


The Same Old Blood Rush (With A New Touch)

by rainsoakedshoes



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Anal Sex, Attempted Murder, Background Erica/Boyd, Background Relationships, Bottom Stiles Stilinski, Businessman Derek, Character Death, Derek is a Good Alpha, Derek is a full shift werewolf, Exhibitionism, Friends With Benefits, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Melissa is an Alpha and Scott is a born wolf, Oral Sex, Panic Attacks, Past Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Public Sex, Scent Marking, Top Derek, background Allison/Scott, sugar daddy Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-22 23:55:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2526365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainsoakedshoes/pseuds/rainsoakedshoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Friends with benefits,” Derek stated. “I just happen to be in a position to provide a few more benefits than your usual hook ups.”</p><p>***</p><p>Derek was an Alpha with a pack and a multi-billion dollar company to take care of. Stiles was a college kid with assignments and student debt to worry about. Neither of them were looking a serious relationship. A one night stand turned into an easy no-strings-attached arrangement. Although nothing is ever as easy or as simple as it first seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (if ive missed any tags please let me know, i will be adding more as i add chapters)
> 
> this fic is quite literally my baby. ive been working on it on and off for nine months and its totally finished now, which means it will be updated regularly, and you dont have to worry about it becoming an abandoned fic. 
> 
> shout out to the amazing Rennie, who was my beta and listened to my ideas about this fic throughout the entire process. 
> 
> title taken from the song Moan by Cute Is What We Aim For

Derek threw his arm over his face to block out the light, but that did nothing to dim the loud noise that had woken him up.

“Fucking builders,” a voice hissed from beside him.

Derek groaned in agreement and rolled over to bury his head in the pillow. He could place what was causing the noise now; it was a circular saw.

That’s when Derek realised he wasn’t in his own bed.

He rolled over again to get a look at the person lying next to him. A pillow was covering the other man’s face so all Derek could see was his pale torso; a large hickey on his left hip.

_Human._

Derek struggled to recall what had happened last night, he remembered bits and pieces but most of it was a blur. He remembered going to a crappy hole in the wall club somewhere downtown, a place he normally wouldn’t have stepped foot into; which is the exact reason he had chosen it. He remembered some punk band had been playing, a college kid had struck up a conversation with him at the bar _“My best friend is the singer.”_

Had he gone home with the college kid?

He had.

Derek desperately tried to remember the kid’s name.

_Steven? Stuart?_

Whatshisname pulled the pillow away from his face and grinned sheepishly over at Derek. “If I’d known they’d been working on a Saturday I would have taken you up on your offer to go back to your place.”

“Your place was closer,” Derek shrugged with a grin of his own, the kids smile was contagious.

He remembered arguing about whose place they should go to, Derek lived on the other side of the city while the guy’s apartment was only a couple of blocks away from the club.

“My name is Stiles by the way,” the kid held out his hand at an awkward angle for Derek to shake. “Last night was pretty messy and I can’t remember if I told you.”

“Derek,” he replied shaking Stiles’ hand.

_Stiles. Derek could be forgiven for forgetting that._

Stiles groaned and scrubbed his hand across his face. “Remind me to never try and out drink a wolf again.”

So Stiles knew Derek was a werewolf. Derek wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. He never hid or denied the fact that he was a werewolf, but he never went around flashing his eyes or extending his fangs to show off either.

“Normally I’m pretty courteous and offer my random hook ups breakfast, but I’m pretty sure all we’ve got in the apartment is left over beer and stale fruit loops,” Stiles told him.

Derek laughed and sat up; now that he was fully awake the noise of the saw wasn’t making his head ache and he could think clearly. “As much as I appreciate it, I have an afternoon meeting uptown and I should probably go home and shower. I don’t think they’ll appreciate it if I show up smelling of alcohol and sex.” Derek looked down at Stiles who had thrown off the blankets and was now stretched out on the bed completely naked. “But can I get a raincheck?”

Stiles grinned again and nodded. “We can totally do breakfast another morning.”

***

Despite the exchange of number, Stiles had thought his night with Derek was a one night stand. So he was honestly surprised the next day around 1:30pm he got a text message.

_[From Derek]: **can we make that breakfast a late lunch?**_

Stiles thought about it for a moment. His plans for the afternoon had been surfing the internet and watching re-runs of TV shows, having lunch with a hot guy did seem like the better option here.

_[From Stiles]: **sure. where?**_

Derek took a few minutes to reply.

_[From Derek]: **The Golden Wolf? Do you know it?**_

Stiles paused, of course he knew The Golden Wolf; everyone in the city knew The Golden Wolf. It was one of the most expensive and exclusive restaurants in the city.

_[From Stiles]: **uhh i know it, but i cant really afford the golden wolf**_

_[From Derek]: **I can. My treat?**_

Stiles thought about declining the offer but then remembered Friday night and how hot Derek actually was. Even if he didn’t get a repeat of the great sex he’d at least get a meal out of it.

_[From Stiles]: **are u sure?**_

_[From Derek]: **I wouldn’t be offering if I wasn’t**_

_[From Stiles]: **ok then, i guess were having lunch at the golden wolf. what time?**_

_[From Derek]: **I just finished a meeting, I can come pick you up in about half an hour?**_

Stiles almost asked if Derek was sure again, but decided the man clearly knew what he was talking about.

_[From Stiles]: **ok, ill try and find something appropriate to wear and see u in half an hour**_

_[From Derek]: **you’ll be fine with a jacket, don’t worry about a tie.**_

And that was it. In the space of 10 minutes Stiles had gone from being bored out of his brains, to having a lunch date with a hot guy at one of the best restaurants in the city.

***

Half an hour later Stiles was checking himself out in the mirror; he was wearing a white shirt, the top two buttons undone, and a pair of black jeans. He had pulled out his slacks to wear but then he’d realised there was still a hole in the crotch from Scott’s 21st, so they were out of the question. He picked up his black suit jacket and slipped it on. It was well tailored and fit him perfectly, Lydia had made sure of that. He looked himself up and down and decided he looked pretty damn good, if he did say so himself.

The knock at the door snapped him out of his self-appreciation. Grabbing his phone and wallet, he headed out of his room to answer the door.  

Derek was standing in his door way looking even better than Stiles remembered. Derek was dressed in an obviously expensive charcoal grey suit. His jacket was unbuttoned and underneath he was wearing a simple white shirt. A light purple tie, ending just where it should at Derek’s belt buckle, finished off his look.

“You look really good,” Stiles blurted out.

Derek chuckled. “I was just about to say the same thing about you.”

“I clean up alright,” Stiles grinned, running a hand through his hair.

 “You ready to go?” Derek asked.

Stiles nodded and picked up his keys from the table by the door. “Let’s roll.”

Derek didn’t speak again until they were in his car.

“You like the Camaro?”

Stiles nodded, he was running his fingers across the seat; there was no doubt it was real leather. “It’s the latest model, isn’t it?”

“Yep,” Derek confirmed.  “I’ve also got a First Generation model that’s in the middle of being rebuilt.”

“How much money do you _have_?” Stiles asked before he could help himself.

Derek didn’t take offence to the question though. “I come from a very wealthy family.”

The rest of the drive uptown was almost completely silent. Derek seemed content to sit in silence, only occasionally swearing under his breath at the traffic, and Stiles wasn’t entirely sure what to say to his one night stand turned lunch date.

Stiles had never seen the inside of The Golden Wolf before, he’d walked by a few times and seen all the well-dressed business men and women, but he mainly knew the establishment by its reputation. As he took in the high vaulted ceiling and extravagant flower arrangements by the hostess stand, Stiles wondered why Derek had chosen this restaurant for lunch with some random guy he barely knew.

“Mr. Hale,” The hostess welcomed. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

 _Hale. Derek Hale._ Stiles felt like he recognised the name but her couldn’t place where from.

“Thank you Angela,” Derek replied. “Is my table ready?”

“Of course, right this way,” Angela smiled at Derek, then at Stiles, before turning on her heel and walking towards the dining area.

People kept saying hello to Derek as they walked past, he greeted them nicely but never stopped moving. Stiles kept his eyes focused on Angela’s back as she led them to the opposite side of the restaurant.

“James will be your server today,” Angela told them, gesturing to a young man who had joined them.

“Good afternoon gentlemen,” James greeted. “What can I get the two of you to drink?”

“Bottle of the house red,” Derek told him then looked at Stiles expectantly.

“Uh, just water for me thanks.”

James nodded. “Are you read to order yet or would you like a few moments?”

“Give us a few moments,” Derek answered.

James nodded again then walked away from the table.

Stiles picked up his menu, he didn’t know how to pronounce almost half of the words on the page and the prices made his eyes widen. “I was right when I said I couldn’t afford this place.”

“I told you not to worry about that,” Derek told him while looking at his own menu. “The chicken here is very good.”

“Well it’d be helpful if I could tell which dish was chicken,” Stiles squinted at the menu.

“I told them the last time they re-printed the menus to tone down the French,” Derek said putting down his menu. “But they never listen.”

Stiles was just about to ask how often Derek ate lunch here when James returned with their drinks.

“Are you ready to order?”

Derek took Stiles’ menu and handed the two menus to James, then ordered for both of them. Stiles wasn't entirely sure what Derek had ordered, but he trusted the man to chose something good.

James nodded dutifully. “Very good, I’ll be back shortly.”

“Normal wine,” Stiles noted, once the waiter was gone. “That’s different. I seem to remember you having a preference for monkshood tequila.”

“And that’s exactly why I’m sticking with wine for lunch.” There was the faintest hint of a blush on Derek’s cheeks.

“Yeah I guess downing shots over lunch at an upscale restaurant would be a bad look,” Stiles mused.

Derek snorted. “That’s an understatement if I ever heard one.”

“So why’d you choose this place for lunch?” Stiles asked, he sounded genuinely curious.

“My family owns it,” Derek answered with a shrug.

“And here I was thinking you were trying to show off.”

“Nah, I think you already have a pretty good idea of how awesome I am.”

Stiles choked on his water. “Oh really? You seem pretty confident.”

“Well you did seem pretty impressed by me on Friday night.” Derek sat back in his seat, crossing his arms and looking Stiles in the eye.

Stiles mirrored Derek’s movements and studied Derek’s face; he looked smug. Stiles kind of wanted to lean across the table and kiss him, catch him by surprise.

However before Stiles could follow through with that idea and make a fool of himself James returned with their meals.

“That was fast,” Derek commented as his plate was placed in front of him.

“The chef put your order at the top of the queue when he learned you were here,” James explained.

Derek rolled his eyes. “Of course he did.”

“Can I do anything else for you?” James asked.

Derek answered for the both of them. “No, thank you James. I’ll call you over if we need anything.”

“I was thinking,” Stiles said picking up his fork. “Maybe after lunch we should find out if you really are as awesome as you think, or if Friday night was just a fluke.”

Derek focused on Stiles’ heartbeat, trying to tell if Stiles was bluffing or not.

Stiles raised his eyebrows. “Well?” he questioned, bringing a forkful of food up to his mouth. “What do you say?”

“I think that’s a good idea.” Derek waited for the blip in Stiles’ heartbeat, the indication that Stiles was surprised, but it never came. His heartbeat held steady.

Derek was pretty sure their lunch was the quickest The Golden Wolf had ever seen. James had asked repeatedly if their meals had been okay when Derek had called for the check, and Angela asked if everything was okay when they made their way out, since it was unusual that Derek didn’t stay for coffee after the meal.

“My place or yours?” Derek asked climbing into the drivers’ seat of the Camaro.

Stiles checked his phone. “Yours. My house mate will be home by now and I don’t think Scotty needs to be subjected to hearing us have loud afternoon sex.”

“ _Loud_ ,” Derek repeated.

“Of course,” Stiles looked at Derek who was now focusing on the road. “You’ve set a high bar for yourself, so you better follow through.”

 “Oh don’t worry, I will,” Derek said with a sly grin, a hint of fang showing.  

***

Stiles didn’t even wait for them to get to Derek’s apartment, while they were in the elevator Stiles threw his arms around Derek’s neck and kissed him hard.

“You know there are cameras right?” Derek asked when Stiles pulled back.

“Obviously,” Stiles pressed light kisses along Derek’s Jaw, “that’s half the fun.”

When the elevator doors opened up Derek hoisted Stiles up so Stiles could wrap his legs around his waist. Derek held him as though he weighed nothing and effortlessly managed to unlock the door, step inside and relock the door, all while Stiles was hanging off him and pressing kisses to every inch of Derek’s face he could reach.

Derek dumped Stiles unceremoniously on the couch and Stiles started to complain. “Dude! Seriously?”

However Stiles quickly shut his mouth when he noticed Derek had already taken his jacket off and was busy loosening his tie. Stiles shucked his own jacket then reached up towards Derek, grabbing Derek’s belt and tugging him down onto the couch beside him. Once Derek was sitting on the couch Stiles manoeuvred himself so he was straddling Derek’s lap.

 Derek grabbed both of Stiles’ wrists and held them by his side. He leaned forward and captured Stiles’ bottom lip between his teeth. Stiles pressed himself closer to Derek who released Stiles’ lip and kissed him properly.

“This would be a good time to use your hands,” Stiles pointed out slightly breathless. He wriggled his fingers and ground his hips down against Derek’s crotch.

Derek manhandled Stiles’ so Stiles was lying on the couch, one foot on the floor. Derek trailed one finger down Stiles’ chest before suddenly ripping his shirt open.

“You’re paying for a new shirt,” Stiles told him.

Derek just hummed in agreement then dropped his head down to Stiles’ chest, sucking a mark onto Stiles’ collar bone. Stiles threaded his fingers through Derek’s hair as Derek started to kiss his way down Stiles’ chest and abdomen. Derek bit down lightly with human teeth; leaving another mark next to Stiles’ bellybutton.

Stiles pulled on Derek’s hair but Derek didn’t move.

“Dude, please,” Stiles’ pleaded.

“Bit impatient are we?” Derek teased.

“I’ve been half hard since lunch, come on!” Stiles tugged on Derek’s hair again.

Derek made quick work of undoing Stiles’ jeans. Stiles lifted his hips helped Derek pull his jeans and underwear down his thighs. Derek licked his palm then wrapped his hand around Stiles’ shaft and started stroking slowly.

Despite Derek’s saliva the stroking was still slightly dry but Stiles welcomed the contact with a low moan. Derek kept stroking until Stiles was completely hard and bucking up to meet Derek’s hand.

“That the best you got?” Stiles tried to sound calm and collected but his voice cracked when Derek rubbed his thumb across the underside of Stiles’ cock head.

Derek gripped around the base of Stiles’ cock. “You wanna see my best?”

Stiles nodded frantically. “Please?” He added for good measure.

Derek decided to give Stiles what he wanted. He licked a long stripe up the underside of Stiles’ dick, flattened his tongue against the head then swallowed Stiles down.

“ _Fu-uck_ ,” Stiles gasped out when his cock hit the back of Derek’s throat.

People had deep throated Stiles before but no one had done it as smoothly and easily as Derek. Stiles carded his hands through Derek’s hair gripping tightly at the dark locks when Derek started to bob his head up and down.  

Derek hummed around Stiles’ cock, the vibrations sending a jolt of pleasure throughout his body causing him to moan loudly. Stiles’ hips canted up involuntarily, and Derek’s rhythm faltered for a moment. Derek hummed again, and this time he was prepared for Stiles’ hips to jerk up again.

Stiles scraped his nails across Derek’s scalp and the sound of his panting and moaning filed Derek’s ears. Stiles’ body was so responsive to Derek’s touch; reacting perfectly to every flick of Derek’s tongue, or drag of his lips. The younger man squirmed under Derek, desperately trying to hold off his orgasm. However Derek didn’t back off or give Stiles any kind of respite. Stiles let out a gasped warning and Derek pulled back so only the head of Stiles’ cock was in his mouth. Stiles’ come flooded Derek’s mouth and the werewolf swallowed without hesitation. Derek stroked Stiles gently until he was completely spent.

When he had recovered some motor function, Stiles wasted no time in pulling Derek in for a filthy kiss. Stiles licked the taste of himself out of Derek’s mouth. Then he pushed Derek back and slid to his knees on the floor in front of the couch.

Derek was already hard, his cock pressing uncomfortably against the front of his slacks. Stiles worked quickly to undo Derek’s pants and pull his dick free. Stiles licked up the underside of Derek’s cock in long, broad strokes. Stiles maintained eye contact with Derek, looking up at the older man through his eyelashes. Derek’s eyes were glued to Stiles’ pink tongue as Stiles licked across the head of Derek’s cock. Ultimately Derek was the one to break eye contact first, closing his eyes with a groan as Stiles took the head of Derek’s dick into his mouth properly.

While Stiles was more than capable of deep throating Derek, he preferred to stroke Derek’s shaft with his hand, while he teased the head of Derek’s dick with his lips and tongue. If Stiles hadn’t already come, the sounds, and words of encouragements, spilling from Derek’s mouth might have been enough to push him over the edge all on their own. Derek threaded his fingers through Stiles’ hair. He didn’t tug on the dark locks like Stiles had done to him. Instead he simply kept his hands on Stiles’ head, every now and again scratching his blunt nails across Stiles’ scalp.

Stiles’ teasing nature helped draw it out longer, but soon enough Derek’s hips were jerking up in small, abortive thrusts, and he could feel his orgasm rising.

“Stiles,” Derek managed to say in warning.

Stiles pulled his mouth away from Derek’s cock with an obscene _pop_. He sped his wrist up, and opened his mouth wide. Derek resisted the urge to close his eyes and drop his head back against the couch. He came in ropes across Stiles’ face, painting the younger mans’ lips, cheek and eyelashes. Without breaking eye contact Stiles ran a finger across his cheek, scooping up Derek’s come, then sucked his finger clean.

“You know,” Stiles said a few minutes later, as they were cleaning themselves up. “You don’t have to buy me fancy meals to get me into bed.”

“That’s good to know.” Derek’s sounded amused as he handed Stiles a t-shirt to replace the shirt he had ripped.

“I’m not going to say _no_ to you buying me things though,” Stiles admitted. “Since you already owe me a shirt.” He wasn’t really sure if he was joking or not. “

“That’s good to know too.”

***

That night after Stiles got back to his and Scott’s apartment he opened his laptop. He was sure he’d heard Derek’s name before but he had no idea where, and he didn’t think it was proper post blow job etiquette to turn to Derek and ask _“so are you famous or something?”_

When he googled ‘Derek Hale’ links to several news article headlines appeared at the top of the page.

_“Hale & Co President **Derek Hale** confirms plan to purchase…” (1 day ago)_

_“ **Derek Hale** attends charity Gala alone” (3 days ago). _

_“ **Derek Hale** and uncle, Peter Hale, reveal plans to honour…” (4 days ago)_

Stiles clicked on the Wikipedia link below the news articles.

“ _Derek Hale is an American business man and entrepreneur. He is currently President of Hale & Co one of the world’s largest and oldest werewolf run companies. Hale is the son of former Alpha of the Hale pack Talia Hale (deceased 2001). Hale took on the title of Alpha after his older sister Laura Hale (deceased 2013) was murdered.” _

Stiles huffed out a breath of air. Not only had he slept with a werewolf but he had slept with the Alpha werewolf of one of the most well-known and revered packs in the country. No wonder Derek’s name had sounded familiar. The Hale’s family history was the stuff of legends. And horror movies.

“You okay buddy?” Scott asked from his place on the couch.

“Do you know Derek Hale?” Stiles stood up and joined Scott on the couch, bringing his laptop with him.

“The Alpha Hale?” Scott paused his game. “I know of him but I’ve never met him before. I think mom has met him a few times at those charity dinners she goes to. Why?”

“You’re probably not going to believe me,” Stiles closed his laptop. “But remember how I brought home a guy on Friday night?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is only a really short chapter, sorry guys.

“Dude, you totally have a sugar daddy!” Scott exclaimed.

“No way,” Stiles shook his head.

“You just said Derek offered to pay for the repairs to you jeep,” Scott said. “And this is after he paid for your text books last week.”  

Stiles looked down at the Xbox controller in his hand, but didn’t say anything, so Scott continued.

“He’s a guy that’s, what? 10 years older than you?” Scott looked at him pointedly. “And he’s buying you expensive gifts because you’re sleeping with him. He’s your sugar daddy.”

“He’s seven years older. And you make it sound like prostitution.”

“Okay, let me rephrase that,” Scott backtracked. “He buys you expensive gifts _and_ you’re sleeping with him.”

 “You know when you think about it, he’s a millionaire with a ripped body, no parents and superhuman strength. Dude, I’m basically banging Batman,” Stiles laughed.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Stop bragging,” Scott picked up his controller again. “We have a game to play.”

Stiles nodded and unpaused the game. However, he did promise himself that he’d figure out exactly what was going on with him and Derek before sleeping with him again.

Of course it wasn’t that easy though.

***

Derek had opened the door to his apartment just wearing a pair of boxer briefs that clung to his body perfectly, leaving nothing to the imagination. All intentions Stiles had to have a serious discussion were forgotten.

They were in the middle of a heavy make out session on the couch, Derek’s lips attached to Stile’s neck, when Stiles’ remember why he’d called Derek and asked to come over in the first place. Stiles pushed Derek away and stood up, because the only way he was going to be able to get through this was if Derek wasn’t touching him.

At first Derek thought Stiles was heading to the bedroom, Stiles had done that before, making Derek chase him and work for it. But when he saw the look on Stiles face he knew something was up.

“What’s wrong?”

“What is this thing between us?” Stiles asked, He knew what he wanted to say, but the words weren’t coming out the way he’d practiced them. “Fuck buddies I can deal with, but I don’t understand the expensive presents, what does that mean?”

Derek took a moment to reply, weighing his words carefully.

“Friends with benefits,” Derek stated. “I just happen to be in a position to provide a few more benefits than your usual hook ups.”

Stiles was still for a moment before muttering something about feeling like a whore. Derek could hear Stiles’ rapid heartbeat, and the smell of embarrassment was coming off him in waves.

“If you think text books are an expensive gift you should have seen what I got for Erica and Boyd when they got married.”

“What did you buy them?” Stiles didn’t know who Erica and Boyd were, but Derek had mentioned their names once or twice before.

“Their house,” Derek grinned and was happy when Stiles laughed. “But if getting gifts freaks you out I’ll stop. I won’t buy anything else or offer to pay for things you need,” Derek told him.

“Really?”

“Of course,” Derek nodded.

Stiles chewed on his lip unsure of what to say next, he honestly hadn’t been expecting Derek to be so niceabout this.

“They’re _gifts_ ,” Derek extended his hands towards Stiles, coxing him back down onto the couch. “If you want to end this, if you get up and leave and never come back, I’m not going to demand you give them back or return my money.”

“And if I don’t leave?” Stiles asked almost coyly, pressing his face against Derek’s shoulder.

“It’s up to you,” Derek shrugged. “You can accept the gifts, or I can return the new iPad you mentioned wanting that’s waiting in the bedroom for you.”

Stiles bit back a grin. He decided he could deal with Scott making a few sugar daddy jokes, if he got to have sex with a hot millionaire _and_ got a new iPad.

***

“Derek Hale?” Lydia questioned, her perfectly sculpted eyebrows shooting up in surprise and disbelief. “Derek Hale who revived his family’s company so now it’s on the Forbes 500 rich list? The first werewolf to be recognised by Forbes? Whose family has done more to strengthen werewolf/human relations than anyone in the last fifty years? That Derek Hale?!”

“I prefer to think of him as Derek Hale: the one with the perfect dick,” Stiles laughed, leaning back in his chair.

He knew he could trust Lydia with this, she wasn’t going to judge him or tell anyone. It had been a few weeks since Derek and Stiles had started seeing each other, and Stiles felt comfortable telling a few select friends.

“So are you dating him or what?”

“Nah, we just sleep together and he buys me stuff sometimes,” Stiles picked at the food on his plate. He’d decided he was going to try and stop putting a label on the relationship between him and Derek. “It’s pretty cool. He’s busy with the company, and I’ve got school to focus on so a serious relationship isn’t what either of us are looking for right now.”

Lydia nodded then leaned in close to Stiles, “So now that you’ve been with werewolf be honest, they’re better in bed than humans, aren’t they?”

Stiles pretended to look scandalized, gasping and everything, then nodded in agreement. “Better stamina than any human I’ve been with, and sometimes he wolfs out a little which is really hot.”

“Has he shifted in front of you properly?”

“I tell you I’m sleeping with a guy in exchange for expensive things and you focus on the werewolf thing,” Stiles sighed in fake annoyance. He was actually glad Lydia had glossed over the gift giving issue.

“The wolfy powers are way more interesting than the money,” Lydia grinned taking a sip of her drink. “And I’m curious to know if there’s any difference between an Alpha and a Beta in bed.”

“I’ve never been with a Beta so I don’t know. His red eyes are something to see up close though.”

The first time he’d seen Derek’s eyes turn red had freaked him out honestly. He knew Derek was an Alpha werewolf, but he was much more used to the yellow eyes of a Beta. He had seen Scott’s eyes flash yellow enough times that he didn’t react anymore. But Stiles only knew one other Alpha and Melissa, Scott’s mom, had never turned her eyes red in front of him before.

 “So what kind of stuff does he buy you?” Lydia asked changing the subject. Okay so maybe the money was more interesting to Lydia than she had first let on.

“He’s brought me clothes and the iPad, plus he paid to have my jeep repaired, and he’s paid for my text books this semester,” Stiles told her. “Nothing really huge, it’s not like he’s paying my tuition.”

“No sexy lingerie?”

“Maybe if I’m good,” Stiles joked and winked at Lydia.

Lydia stuck her finger in her mouth and made gagging sounds.

“You’d love to see me in lacy panties,” Stiles said checking the time on his phone. “I’ve gotta go soon, I’m meeting Derek at his office.”

“At his office?” This little piece of information snapped Lydia back into reality. “Doesn’t he worry what people will say about his toy boy visiting the office?”

“He doesn’t seem to care,” Stiles shrugged, “besides it’s not like I’m going in for a lunch time quickie, I only go to the office on afternoons he’s not working late so we can go back to his place together.” The first couple of times Stiles had been incredibly nervous taking the elevator up to Derek’s office, but people barely reacted to him so it was hard for him to care.

“So he’s never fucked you on his desk between meetings?” Lydia grinned. “Because that sounds kinda hot.”

“Bye Lyds,” Stiles told her standing up.

“Next time we talk I want dirty details!” Lydia called after him as he walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad you're all liking the fic so far!!! this chapter is where the hurt/comfort and panic attack tags come into play.

Stiles was pacing and chewing on his thumbnail when his phone rang. Derek’s name flashed on the screen and Stiles answered with a sigh.

“Hey Derek, what’s up?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to come over tonight,” Derek didn’t miss Stiles’ tone. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Stiles said, a bit too quickly. “But, uh, not tonight okay?”

“Stiles, what’s wrong?” Derek asked.

“Nothing,” Stiles pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just a long day, ya know?”

“I don’t need to hear your heartbeat to know when you’re lying,” Derek’s voice softened. “Come on, tell me what’s going on.”

A full minute passed before Stiles replied. “My dad had a heart attack today,” Stiles said. “He’s okay, they’re keeping him overnight to keep an eye on him. He made me go home to get some sleep but I can’t stop worrying.”

“I’m sorry,” Derek said. “Stiles, I’m sorry. I’m glad your dad’s okay though.”

“Thanks,” Stiles finally stopped pacing.

“Do you want to come over and-”

“Derek!” Stiles shouted before dropping his voice back down to a more normal volume. “I just told you my dad had a heart attack! I’m not coming over to have sex with you! I can’t believe-”

“Stiles, shut up,” Derek interrupted. “What I was _going_ to ask was, do you want to come over and watch a movie or get some food? I thought having some company might help keep you from worrying about your dad.”

“Oh,” all the anger Stiles was feeling disappeared and he deflated. “Really?”

Stiles and Derek’s relationship was still firmly in fuck buddies territory, they had never spent any time just hanging out together. Lunch or dinner had always devolved into sex.

“If you want,” Derek said. “Then, yeah, come over. If you’re too shaken to drive I can come get you, or pay for a cab.”

“I can drive,” Stiles told him.

“So I’ll see you soon?”

“Yeah,” Stiles agreed. “I’ll see you soon.”

***

Derek was dressed in black sweatpants and a maroon v neck t-shirt when he answered the door for Stiles. He had put a shirt on after he had finished talking on the phone with Stiles. Derek genuinely didn’t have any intention of turning Stiles’ visit into a booty call, however he figured answering the door half naked might not convince Stiles of that.

Stiles walked past Derek and into the apartment without a word.

“How are you doing?” Derek asked, closing the door and following Stiles into the apartment.

Stiles shook his head. He didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know how much to tell Derek. Usually he would go to Scott for something like this, but Scott was out of town with his girlfriend Allison.

Derek put his hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “Stiles?”

Stiles opened his mouth but no sound came out. He sucked in a breath, his chest tightening in an unpleasantly familiar way.

Derek could hear Stiles’ heartbeat racing and feel the younger man’s body tremble under his palm.

“Stiles,” Derek repeated, trying to catch Stiles’ gaze. “Look at me.”

Stiles looked up at Derek, his eyes wet and lips parted, desperately trying to draw in air.

“Breath with me,” Derek instructed then took a deep breath in, urging Stiles to do the same.

Derek guided Stiles down onto one of the couches as Stiles took in a shaky breath.

Neither of them were sure how long Stiles’ panic attack lasted for. Stiles was too busy focusing on drawing breath into his lungs so he didn’t pass out, and Derek was too focused on doing all he could to help Stiles calm down.

Other than reminding Stiles to breathe Derek didn’t say much to him at all. He had never been around someone else having a panic attack, he didn’t really know what to do, so he did what came naturally.

Derek’s arms wrapped around him helped ground Stiles, however it still took a while before Stiles’ heartbeat and breathing were back to normal and he could speak again.

“Sorry,” Stiles said, voice low and hoarse.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Derek assured him.

“I already had a panic attack today. I thought I would be okay but,” Stiles shook his head and closed his eyes. “But I can’t stop thinking about my mom.”

“Your mom?” Derek didn’t know anything about Stiles’ parents other than the fact that his father was a sheriff.

“She died when I was nine,” Derek still had his arms around Stiles and Stiles was talking into Derek’s shoulder.

“And when you heard about your dad today you were scared you were going to lose him like you lost your mom,” Derek filled in.

“Yeah,” Stiles nodded. He was only mildly surprised that Derek was so perceptive.

Derek didn’t say he was sorry or show any pity towards Stiles after hearing about Stiles’ mom. Stiles appreciated that.

“Do you want to talk about it more?” Derek offered. “I do have some experience with losing family members.”

“I don’t think the way my mom died really compares to how you lost your family,” Stiles said.

“Maybe not,” Derek agreed. “But regardless of how they died they still died, and the pain of losing someone is universal.”

“I don’t want to talk,” Stiles said quietly. “Not right now.”

Derek nodded, leaving the option to talk about it another night open. “Do you want to watch a movie?” he asked.

“Something funny,” Stiles appreciated the change in subject.

“Something funny,” Derek repeated with a firm nod.

They ultimately decided on an Adam Sandler movie Derek didn’t even know that he owned. He realised that Cora must have left it the last time she had visited.  

However it didn’t take them long to figure out that neither of them were Adam Sandler fans.

Stiles was lying on the couch with his head in Derek’s lap, he was staring up at Derek, studying the older mans’ features. Although Derek was looking at the screen his attention was focused on Stiles.

“You’re supposed to be watching the movie,” Derek told him.

“You know,” Stiles said, completely ignoring Derek. “I’ve never seen you shift before, and I’m trying to figure out what you’d look like.”

“There’s never been a reason for me to shift in front of you,” Derek pointed out.

Stiles hummed in agreement. “I guess not.”

“Do you want to see?” Derek asked.

“Really?” Stiles sat up so he could look at Derek properly. “You don’t have to. I know some ‘wolves don’t like shifting in front of humans.”

Stiles was trying very hard not to make it awkward, but Derek could see in Stiles’ eyes that he really wanted to see Derek shift.

“You’ve said your best friend is a werewolf, have you seen him shift up close before?”

“Yeah,” Stiles nodded. “I’ve seen Scott shift tons of times.”

“So you know what to expect.”

Stiles nodded again.

Derek rolled his shoulders back and cracked his neck. He hadn’t shifted since the last full moon, three weeks prior, working in an office building there was little reason for him to shift more often. He didn’t remember the last time he shifted in front of someone else, it was probably before Laura died, and he didn’t remember a time when he had shifted in front of a human. However he was surprised to find that he was completely happy to shift in front of Stiles.

Stiles didn’t look away as Derek’s features twisted and changed, he had always been fascinated with werewolf shifts. When they were children Scott had indulged Stiles a lot by shifting back and forth.

Seeing Derek shift didn’t shock Stiles. There was more hair on Derek’s cheeks, his ears were longer and pointed, his eyes glowed red, and his mouth was full of fangs, but he was still Derek.

Stiles put his hand against Derek’s cheek, the hair under his palm was longer, softer than the rough stubble than he was used to.

“Do you want to see my full shift?” Derek asked through a mouthful of sharp teeth.

“What?” Stiles’ eyebrows furrowed. “Full shift? Isn’t this-” Stiles stopped talking and Derek watched the realisation spread across his face. “You can shift into a full wolf?”

“Yes,” Derek confirmed. He shook his head and his features melted back into his human face. “Do you want to see?”

Stiles nodded wildly. “It’s supposed to be really rare, I had no idea you could do it.”

“My mother could do it as well, Laura too,” Derek stood up and pulled his shirt off.

“I’d read online that you mom could,” Stiles admitted. “But there was nothing about you or Laura.”

“We never advertised it.” Derek shrugged. When Laura, and then Derek, had exhibited the ability to shift into a full wolf Talia had been adamant they not make it public knowledge. The Hale’s had already been targets of hate groups, flaunting the fact that three of them could turn into full wolves would have made them even bigger targets.

Derek was naked now and Stiles didn’t try to hide the once over he gave Derek. Stiles had seen Derek naked from every angle countless times, but he never got tired of looking.

Stiles watched in awe as Derek’s body twisted and changed. Thick black fur sprouted from Derek’s skin, and his face contorted, lengthening into a muzzle.

Finally a large black wolf with glowing red eyes stood in front of Stiles.

“Wow,” Stiles said, completely at loss for words. Stiles had seen photos of werewolves in full shift, he had even seen photos online of Talia, however none of it prepared him for seeing Derek as a wolf. Derek was larger than a normal wolf, but that was the only difference Stiles could see.  

Stiles reached out to touch Derek but then stopped, unsure if Derek would appreciate being petted like a dog. Derek made the final decision for Stiles and butted his head against Stiles’ hand. Stiles let out a small laugh and stroked his hand down the back of Derek’s head and down his neck.

“This is so weird,” Stiles shook his head. “Awesome, but weird.”

Derek jumped up onto the couch and laid his head in Stiles’ lap. Stiles continued to pet Derek, Stiles figured that Derek must like it otherwise he wouldn’t let Stiles do it.

“You look amazing.” Stiles didn’t even realise he’d said it out loud until Derek lifted his head to look at him, eyes flashing red again. “You _always_ look amazing,” Stiles corrected himself. “But this is something else entirely. This is just…” Stiles couldn’t find the words to articulate how in awe he was. He could hardly believe that Derek trusted him so much to not only see his full shift, but to be so intimate like this.

Derek’s fur was thick and warm under Stiles’ fingers, and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence.

After a while Derek pulled away from Stiles’ touch and jumped back down off the couch.

“What? You get bored?” Stiles asked. Before the words had even left his mouth Derek was already shifting back.

“Not bored,” Derek corrected when he was back in his human form. The older man bent down to retrieve his sweatpants and put them back on.

“Are my petting skills subpar?” Stiles guessed.

“Everything you do with your hands is well above par,” Derek said. He knelt down on the couch, hovering above Stiles, a smirk on his lips. “I just figured if we were going to cuddle it might be better if I wasn’t a wolf.”

“Oh really?” Stiles raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“Because, if I’m a wolf I can’t do this.” Derek closed the distance between them and captured Stiles’ lips with his.

Stiles looped his arms around Derek’s neck and pulled him down onto the couch properly. Derek’s teeth grazed Stiles’ bottom lip and Stiles opened his mouth for Derek. Derek’s hand cradled Stiles’ jaw, his thumb sweeping across Stiles’ cheek, and Stiles instinctively leaned into the touch.

Stiles was the one to break the kiss. “I still don’t want to have sex,” he said quietly.

“Okay,” Derek pulled back a little but didn’t take his hand away from Stiles’ face. “We don’t have to have sex.”

Stiles gave Derek a grateful smile, then kissed the other man again. “Thanks,” Stiles whispered against Derek’s lips.

“You can stay the night,” Derek offered. “If you want to.” It was getting late and Derek didn’t like the idea of Stiles driving home in case he had another panic attack, but he wasn’t going to force the younger man to stay.

“I’d like that,” Stiles admitted. He didn’t want to go home and be alone; when he was alone his mind could get the better of him again.

Derek stood back up and offered Stiles his hand. “Come on, you could use some sleep.”

Stiles nodded and took Derek’s hand. The two of them made their way to Derek’s bedroom, his bed was still unmade from that morning. Derek gave Stiles a pair of sweatpants to borrow; they were too big and hung low on his hips. On any other occasion Derek would have been leering and making every effort to get Stiles back out of the sweatpants, but Stiles looked so tired and miserable that Derek felt an overwhelming urge to protect him.  

It took a long while for Stiles to finally sleep. His mind was still moving a million miles an hour, he couldn’t shut his brain off and stop worrying about his dad. However between Derek’s soft bed, and the warmth of the werewolf himself pressed against Stiles’ back, Stiles did finally manage to slip into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like always you can come talk to me on [tumblr](http://frightfulhale.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's one instance of Stiles speaking French in this chapter (he says "I love it"), and i am relying on google translate for it. so i apologise if the translation is way off

Stiles was lounging on Derek’s couch while Derek dealt with an emergency phone call from the office. It wasn’t the first time they’d been interrupted by a phone call and Stiles was used to it; the company always came first.

After a crash course in their history courtesy of Lydia, and the internet, as well as overhearing a number of phone calls Derek took, over the last few months Stiles had learnt a lot about Hale and Co. Stiles hadn’t known that it had started off as the law firm Hale and Hale, before expanding into other branches of business. After a rename Hale and Co had law firms across the company, as well as stock brokerages, and deciding shares in a number of large businesses. Although their success in the business market was only part of the reason that Hale and Co was so well known. 

It had been thirteen years since a radical anti-werewolf movement had set off a bomb at a high profile function. The function was a way to raise money to support humans who had been turned against their will. It was supposed to be a huge step forward in human/werewolf relations. 81 people were injured, 93 dead, 14 of whom were children. Stiles remembers his mom talking about how tragic the deaths were. Even when she had been sick, Claudia Stilinski had shed tears for the Hale children losing their parents.

The thirteen year anniversary had been at the start of the summer just gone, not long before Stiles had met Derek, and the press coverage had been immense, like it was every year. Almost a full week of nothing but memorials and press releases from the company. Every year on the anniversary Hale and Co made announcements on what charities they were going to be pledging towards, and had events to raise money for werewolf rights. Although nothing compared to the press coverage the year before, when Derek’s sister had been murdered and they had announced that Derek, as the new Alpha, was going to be taking control. Derek Hale: one of the last surviving children of the famous Alpha Talia Hale; the new beacon of hope for the company.

Derek never spoke about the bombing or Laura’s murder, but Stiles didn’t expect him to. Derek did however mention his youngest sister Cora, who was living abroad, from time to time, and of course he talked about Peter.

Uncle Peter.

That’s who Derek had been arguing on the phone with for, Stiles checked his phone, the past 20 minutes.

Derek was pacing around the kitchen, desperately trying to get Peter off the phone. He thought about hanging up but the last time he’d done that Peter had shown up at his door and he didn’t want a repeat of that. He shot Stiles and apologetic look and mouthed “I’m sorry” to him. Stiles gave him thumbs up to show him it was okay. Five minutes later Derek finally got off the phone after promising Peter he’d spend the night going over the new proposals.

Obviously he’d been lying. He had Stiles shirtless in his apartment; he had other plans for the night.

Derek slumped down onto the couch next to Stiles. “I hate him.”

Stiles just nodded, it wasn’t his place to comment on Peter (even though he had plenty of opinions about the older Hale). Derek sighed and rested his head on Stiles’ shoulder. They were quiet for a few minutes until Derek spoke again.

“Do you have a passport?”

That was not what Stiles was expecting Derek to say.

“Yeah, why?” Stiles asked raising an eyebrow. “You want to run away from Peter to some far off land with me?”

“Not exactly,” Derek moved and buried his face against Stiles neck.

“Then what?”

Derek sighed again against Stiles bare skin, which caused Stiles to shiver.

“I have to go to meet with our French investors in person, to smooth out something Peter did,” Derek mumbled into Stiles’ neck. “And I think if I’m forced to spend a week in meetings with Peter, and then have to go back to an empty hotel room, I might just throw myself off the top of the Eiffel Tower.”

“So you want to take me to France to distract you from how much Peter pisses you off?” Stiles was trying to process this but Derek’s tongue on his neck was making it difficult to focus.

Derek made an obvious effort not to force Stiles into anything he wasn’t comfortable with. “Only if you want to come.”

“What about my classes? I don’t think my professors will like it if I’m skipping classes to jet off to Europe.”

“Already checked, the trip is scheduled at the same time as semester break,” Derek told him. “It’s been planned for that week for months,” Derek added in case Stiles assumed he was organising his work schedule around Stiles classes.

“And I assume you’ll be paying for my flights and everything?”

All Stiles got in reply was a positive _“Mmmhmm”_ noise as Derek sucked a mark onto Stiles collarbone.

“Then I guess I’m going to France.”

***

“Why do you look so shocked?” Derek was biting back a smile.

“Because at most I was expecting first class on a commercial airline, not a private freaking jet,” Stiles whispered. People were already staring, he didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself.

Derek just laughed and slid into a seat, gesturing for Stiles to take the aisle seat next to him.

“So this must be Stiles,” a blonde woman said sitting down opposite Derek. “You certainly do have good taste Derek; I understand why you wanted to drag him to Paris with us.”

“Keep it in your pants, Erica,” Derek didn’t look up from his phone, but the affection in his voice was obvious.

“I’m Erica,” she reached across to shake Stiles’ hand. “I’m head of PR.”

“I’m Stiles, but you already knew that,” He had no idea what to say.

“You ever been to France before Stiles?” Erica asked leaning back and getting comfortable.

Stiles shook his head, “I’ve only ever been to Mexico.”

“You’re going to love it,” Erica told him. “We could go shopping together; give Derek’s credit cards a work out.”

“Where’s Boyd?” Derek asked changing the subject.

“Why do you think I know?” Erica replied.

“He’s your husband.”

“I don’t keep him on a leash,” Erica shrugged.

Derek put down his phone and stared at Erica until she sighed and gave in.

“He’s keeping a close eye on your uncle, like _you_ told him to. He doesn’t trust him, none of us do.”

“I don’t trust him either,” Derek admitted. “But we fix this thing in France and I’m sure we can fix the Texas thing, we fix the Texas thing and we have a chance at getting the new legislation past congress.”

“The legislation about wolfsbane cultivation?” Stiles asked. “That’s what this is about?”

“You know about that?” Derek looked surprised and Erica was smirking.

“Of course,” Stiles replied. “It’s not like it’s a huge secret. Plus my best friends’ mom is an Alpha; she’s been very supportive of the bill.”

“Who’s your friends’ mom?” Derek steered the conversation away from the legislation. He didn’t want to think about it right now, it had stressed him out enough.

“Melissa McCall.”

“I remember her,” Erica told him. “We met her at the fundraiser for the orphan pups last April.”

Stiles was surprised. He knew Melissa was rather well known in the werewolf world, but he didn’t think she was on first name basis with the top people at the Hale’s company. Derek narrowed his eyes, he remembered the fundraiser and the name seemed familiar but he couldn’t put a face to the name.

“Curly hair, pretty smile, very quick witted,” Stiles listed off some of Melissa’s qualities trying to jog Derek’s memory.

“Adopted the Lahey boy after that awful massacre in Portland,” Erica elaborated. “Demanded to know what our long term commitments to the charity were.”

Derek nodded, he remembered now. “She straightened my tie for me and told me to I’d look prettier if I smiled.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Melissa,” Stiles laughed.

Stiles was about to regale them with a story about the time Melissa caught two of her betas picking on an omega who was new to town, but was interrupted by the pilot on the PA telling them to fasten their seatbelts and prepare for takeoff.

The last of the entourage were taking their seats and Stiles looked down to make sure his seatbelt was on right.

 “So this is the whore,” A voice said and Stiles felt a hand on his shoulder.

“A friend,” Derek corrected through gritted teeth. “A friend, who you do not touch without express permission, Peter.”

Peter withdrew his hand and sat across the aisle from Stiles but Boyd shoved him towards the window seat and situated himself between Peter and Stiles. Boyd was head of security and apparently Derek’s personal body guard on trips. Boyd just kept giving Stiles reasons to like him.

“Boyd, wouldn’t you rather sit next to your darling wife?” Peter asked flashing a toothy smile at Erica who gave him the finger in return.

“I’m fine where I am,” Boyd stated staring straight ahead.

The plane started to move and Stiles gripped the armrest, but it didn’t seem to faze Derek who leaned forward so he could see his uncle on the other side of the plane.

“You only talk when necessary. You are silent until we get to Paris. When we are in Paris you will be polite and sincere with your apologies. No sarcasm and no flirting, we don’t need another sexual harassment claim,” Derek held up his hand to show he wasn’t finished when Peter tried to interrupt. “And under no circumstances do you ever touch Stiles again. You do not talk to him. Fuck, if you see him in the lobby of the hotel you walk in the other direction.”

Peter opened his mouth, but thought twice about arguing, and sat back looking away from Derek and Stiles.

Stiles was on edge; he was a nervous flier and Peter’s comments had made him more anxious than he’d already been. His ears were popping but none of the werewolves seemed to be bothered by the increasing altitude. Derek rested his hand on Stiles’ arm; he could smell the fear pouring off of Stiles.

“We’re almost at cruising altitude,” Derek reassured him.

Stiles just nodded, his teeth were clenched and he wasn’t sure he could talk just yet. Derek didn’t remove his hand until the tension had left Stiles body and his heart rate was back to normal.

***

Stiles didn’t remember nodding off but the next thing he knew he was waking up with his head resting on Derek’s shoulder.

“Good morning sleeping beauty, have a nice nap?” Erica asked.

“Shit, I’m sorry!” Stiles exclaimed pulling away from Derek.

“It’s not like it’s the first time you’ve fallen asleep on me,” Derek shrugged making another note on the page in front of him.

“Probably the first time he’s done it without being paid,” Peter said dryly.

“Peter!” Derek barely raised his voice but the anger was there. “One more word and I’ll get Boyd to gag you.”

Stiles could feel himself blushing and slumped down further in his seat, he wished he could disappear. Boyd reached across the aisle and punched Stiles in the arm softly to get his attention.

“I might gag him just for fun,” he told Stiles with a wink.

“Uncle Peter never knows when to shut up,” Derek started talking as if Peter wasn’t a few feet away. “If he gives you any trouble while we’re in Paris let me know and I’ll give him cement shoes and he can stay at the bottom of the river Seine.”

To everyone’s surprise (and to Stiles’ relief) Peter actually did stay quiet for the rest of the flight. He was even quiet as they made their way through customs and baggage claim, only answering necessary questions from airport staff. Although that may have had something to do with Boyd’s hand on Peter’s shoulder the whole way through the airport.

Stiles wasn’t going to lie; after the private jet he had been expecting a limo to pick them up from the airport. What he hadn’t been expecting was _two_ limos.

“Why two?” He asked as their group split in half and he climbed into one of the cars behind Derek.

“It’s a security precaution,” Derek explained.

“Really?”

“Kinda,” Derek said. “But mainly I just don’t to be in the same car as Peter. It was bad enough we had to be on the same plane as him.”

Erica leaned over and showed Derek something on her phone; Derek snorted.

“Looks like Boyd’s not too happy about having to be in the same car with him,” Erica said with a smile.

“I gave him a choice,” Derek told her, “he could come to France and keep a close eye on Peter at all times, or he could stay in the states and train the new security hires.”

“You know staying in the states was never an option for him,” Erica pointed out.

“I know,” Derek replied with a smug grin.

“You’re such an ass.”

“Boyd knows how much I appreciate him,” Derek placed his hand on Erica’s shoulder, “And you know how much I appreciate you.”

Stiles leaned back in his seat and stopped paying attention to Erica and Derek’s banter, his body was telling him it was time for bed but the sun was still high in the sky.

***

When they got to the hotel room the bed was calling Stiles name.

“I’m going to sleep for a million years,” Stiles mumbled into the bed after belly flopping onto it.

“Good, get some sleep. I should be back in a couple of hours,” Derek told him while shucking his jacket.

“You’re leaving?” Stiles asked rolling over onto his back, “but we just got here.”

“I have to work,” Derek was digging through his suitcase for a fresh shirt, “but like I said, I’ll only be a couple of hours.”

Stiles grunted in response, he was happy he’d be able to sleep, but he also couldn’t wait to have sex with Derek in an expensive French hotel room.

Derek had finished changing and walked over to the bed; he sat down next to Stiles and ran a hand through Stiles’ hair. “Mini bar, room service, whatever you want until I get back.”

“Sleep first,” Stiles whispered. “Then I’ll spend all your money.”

“Good plan,” Derek chuckled, standing back up.

Stiles nodded and kept his eyes closed until he heard the door shut behind Derek. Once he was alone he dragged himself back off the bed, pulling his shirt over his head. He thought about falling asleep in his jeans and shoes but ultimately decided against it.

***

Derek put the folders he’d been carrying down on the desk and undressed quickly and quietly so he didn’t disturb Stiles. When he’d returned to the hotel room he’d found Stiles in just his underwear sprawled out on the bed with the covers hanging off the edge; his clothes strewn across the floor.

Derek knelt on the edge of the bed and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ shoulder blade.

“J'aime ça,” Stiles mumbled against the pillow.

“Since when do you speak French?” Derek asked, nipping lightly at Stiles’ skin.

“I don’t,” Stiles admitted with a yawn. “Allison’s taught me to say a few things over the years though.”

“Allison?” Derek pulled back to Stiles could roll over. “Scott’s girlfriend?”

“You do pay attention,” Stiles grinned. “Yeah Allison is fluent, which isn’t much of a surprise, her last name does mean silver in French after all.”

“Argent.” The smile on Derek’s face disappeared.

It took Stiles a few seconds to realise what had happened. “Fuck,” he said. “She’s an Argent yeah, but not one of the crazy ones.”

The Argent name had been synonymous with werewolf hunting for centuries. However the family had splintered over the years, many had dropped the name and done everything they could to distance themselves from the family legacy. Some members still held tight to the old hunters’ code, and felt like it was their obligation to kill werewolves. Allison’s parents’ had gotten out when she was younger. Allison had told Scott and Stiles a lot about her time with her extended family, and others who shared their views. The way she talked about it made it seem like a cult.

Derek nodded but didn’t say anything. He was annoyed at himself that the mere mention of the Argent family shook him up.

Stiles sat up and kissed Derek. “Come on,” Stiles said. “I can think of a million better things to do than talk about Allison and her family.”

The devilish grin on Stiles face brought Derek’s smile back. “Where did you want to start?” Derek asked.

Stiles looked around the room. “The balcony,” he decided.

“The balcony,” Derek repeated.

Stiles stood up and made his way over to the balcony doors. He opened the glass doors and stepped out into the afternoon sun.

“Let all of Paris hear us!” Stiles called out to Derek.

Derek rolled his eyes but followed Stiles out onto the balcony anyway.

***

Stiles watched the numbers in the elevator light up as they descended down to the 8th floor, where Derek’s suite was. He was shirtless and had a towel draped over his shoulder after spending most of the morning at the roof top pool. It was the third day of the trip and Derek had been in meetings all morning. So Stiles had decided to check out all the amenities the hotel had to offer, he was hoping he could talk Derek into going to the sauna with him.

The elevator doors opened and Stiles was ripped from his fantasies as he stood face to face with Peter Hale.

Stiles nodded a polite greeting to the man and stepped around him to get out of the elevator. He hoped that Peter would just get in the elevator and that would be it. However Peter put his hand on Stiles’ shoulder to stop him from walking away, and allowed the elevator doors to shut.

“How are you enjoying Paris?” Peter asked.

“I’m liking it a lot,” Stiles told him. “Erica took me sightseeing yesterday, which was really great.”

Stiles had no idea what to say to Peter. Peter wasn’t even supposed to be talking to him, Derek had made that clear, but the more Stiles learned about Peter the more obvious it became that Peter did whatever Peter wanted to do.

“Did you like the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe more?”

“Uh, the Eiffel Tower?” Stiles just wanted Peter to go away, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little scared of the older man.

Peter nodded. “It’s always awe inspiring seeing such iconic landmarks in person.”

Stiles nodded in agreement and tried to casually start walking back away from Peter, but Peter’s grip on his shoulder didn’t let up.

“Have you spent much time with Derek on this trip?” Peter’s voice was kind but Stiles didn’t trust him for a second.

“Not really,” Stiles admitted. “He’s been really busy with all the meetings.”

“Good, good,” Peter said, mostly to himself. “It’s probably best you don’t spend too much time with him.”

“I- What?” Peter’s comment threw Stiles completely off guard.

“We’ve had to deal with people trying to use my nephew before,” Peter smiled at Stiles, but it was completely predatory.

Stiles gaped at the werewolf. Was Peter seriously accusing Stiles of trying to use Derek? Was he threatening Stiles? Stiles stood taller, trying to show Peter that he wasn’t scared of him, even if his heartbeat probably betrayed him.

Stiles never got to learn what Peter meant because at that moment the elevator doors opened again and Derek strode out. Stiles used Peter’s momentary lapse in attention to wrench himself away from Peter’s touch.

“Stiles can you go back to the room?” Derek asked, voice even and face hard. “I need to talk to my uncle.”

Stiles nodded and retreated as quickly as he could. Once he was safely inside the hotel room he pressed his ear to the door to try and hear the conversation, he only managed to catch small parts of what they were saying when the men raised their voices.

“…not to touch him!” Derek yelled. “I don’t know what you’re playing at but you’re not to go near him again!”

Peter was a lot more calm and collected than Derek so Stiles couldn’t hear much of what he was saying properly, but he heard certain words like ‘whore’ perfectly clearly.

“He’s not going to try and hurt us!” Stiles thought that Derek sounded more upset than angry.

“That’s what you said about Kate!” Peter yelled back, his cool demeanour finally cracking.

There was a loud bang and there was no doubt in Stiles’ mind that Derek had slammed Peter against the wall.

“Stiles is not Kate!” Derek bellowed.

There was the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the hallway and Stiles only just managed to get out of the way before Derek came storming into the room.

“How much of that did you hear?” Derek stopped in front of Stiles and took his jacket off.

“Who’s Kate?” Stiles asked in way of answer.

Derek’s jaw clenched and Stiles saw the vein in his neck pop.

“Never mention her again,” Derek warned, his anger getting the better of him. The confrontation with Peter and the mention of Kate left him more shaken than he would like to admit.

Stiles was taken aback. He had never seen Derek so angry before. Before he could say anything else the werewolf walked into the bathroom, leaving Stiles standing alone in the entry way.

Stiles was in his underwear and sitting on the end of the bed when Derek finally emerged from the bathroom. Derek’s tie was off and his shirt was unbuttoned and untucked.

“I’m sorry,” Stiles said. He wasn’t even sure exactly what he was apologising for. For not staying away from Peter. For the fact that Derek had gotten into a fight with his uncle. For being nosey and asking about something that obviously made Derek angry. For all of that and more. It just seemed like the right thing to say.

“You don’t have to say sorry,” Derek shook his head and sat down next to Stiles. “I’m angry at Peter, not you.”

Stiles still wanted to know who Kate was, he had so many questions, but he knew that asking anything would probably make Derek angry again and he didn’t want to do that.

“Did he touch you?” Derek asked after a few moments of silence.

“Yeah,” Stiles nodded. “He had his hand on my shoulder when you came out of the elevator.”

“I thought I could smell him on you.”

Stiles looked affronted. “Is it really that bad?”

“No,” Derek said, shaking his head. “It’s just because I was concentrating on it.”

Stiles stood up and pulled his t-shirt off over his head. “I think I’m going to go for a shower,” he said. “I don’t really want to smell like Peter.”

Derek caught Stiles’ wrist and stopped him. “I have a better idea.”

Derek pulled Stiles back to him and Stiles went without resistance. Derek shifted back further on the bed, and Stiles knelt above him, so he was straddling Derek’s thighs. Derek ran his hands over Stiles’ shoulders then down his chest and stomach. Stiles had his hands in Derek’s hair, and he opened his mouth willingly when Derek kissed him.

In a fluid motion Derek flipped himself and Stiles so Stiles was on his back on the bed. Derek pressed his face against the juncture of Stiles’ right shoulder and neck. When he exhaled Stiles shivered. Derek pressed messy, open mouthed kisses to Stiles’ skin. He made his way across Stiles’ collar bones, nipping at the tender flesh, and rubbing his beard against Stiles until the younger man’s skin was flushed a lovely shade of red. Derek had a hand between them and pinched one of Stiles’ nipples then the other.

Derek worked until his scent had saturated Stiles skin. Until the scent of Peter, as well as the hotel, had been covered. Until Stiles smelt like Derek and no one else. Derek worked until Stiles was withering underneath him, gasping out Derek’s name and thrusting his hips up, desperate for more contact.

Derek rolled his hips down against Stiles. The moan and litany of swears Stiles let out was like music to Derek’s ears. Derek’s cock was achingly hard, pressing against the zipper of his slacks. Derek quickly undid his pants and pushed them down his thighs. He rolled his hips against Stiles again; only the thin material of their boxer briefs separating them. Stiles tried to work a hand in between their bodies, but Derek quickly grabbed Stiles by the wrist, and pinned both of Stiles’ hands to the bed above his head.

“Please,” Stiles begged. He canted his hips up against Derek, but the friction he was getting wasn’t enough.

Stiles groaned when Derek pulled away from him completely. However his annoyance was short lived when Stiles realised Derek was retrieving the lube from the bedside table. Stiles stripped himself of his underwear and laid back down on the bed, ready for Derek.

Derek was a little rougher than usual, working Stiles open with his fingers, but Stiles didn’t mind. Stiles ground back against Derek as the werewolf worked one finger, then two, then three, inside of him.

Sometimes Derek was worried that he would hurt Stiles; that his pace would be too much or he would grip Stiles’ hips too tight. But Stiles never complained about the bruises or being sore afterwards. He could take whatever Derek gave him then beg for more.  He would arch his back and wrap his legs around Derek. The noises and words that came out of his mouth would be enough to make a porn star blush.

Stiles came first. Spilling out over his own hand and stomach. Derek pressed a kiss to Stiles’ slack mouth and slowed the pace of his thrusts.

Derek pulled out of Stiles and fucked into his own fist. Stiles watched through hooded eyes, while he lazily ran a finger through the mess on his stomach. Derek came on Stiles’ chest, while Stiles was grinning up at him the entire time.

Stiles pulled Derek down onto the mattress with him, and kissed him. Derek put a hand against Stiles’ chest, smearing his come across Stiles’ skin. Stiles knew what Derek was doing; scent marking. But Stiles didn’t complain about it. He liked the idea of smelling like Derek.

***

At the end of the week, when they flew back in from France, Derek and Stiles caught a taxi together. The taxi took them to Stiles’ apartment building first.

“Thanks for coming with me,” Derek said as he helped Stiles with his luggage.

“Thanks for asking,” Stiles smiled. He was tired from the flight and jetlagged but the smile was genuine.

Derek didn’t kiss Stiles goodbye, the cab driver was giving him an impatient look. Instead Derek promised he would talk to Stiles soon.

Scott was home when Stiles walked into their apartment.

“How was Paris?” Scott asked.

“It was good,” Stiles answered. “Really, really good.”


	5. Chapter 5

The Friday before Thanksgiving Stiles was actually up to date with all of his course work so he decided to reward himself by doing, well, Derek.

What Stiles wasn’t expecting however, was a young woman to open the door to Derek’s apartment when he knocked.

“Hi, come in,” she stepped back to allow Stiles to pass. “I’m Cora by the way.”

“I’m Stiles.”

“Derek told me you’d be coming by,” Cora nodded.

“You’re Derek’s sister, right?” Stiles asked, still thrown by her presence. “I thought you were in South America.”

“She was,” Derek said, walking into the room. “I didn’t even know she was back in the country until she showed up here half an hour ago.”

“I can leave if you guys want to catch up or whatever,” Stiles offered, he really had no idea how to act in this kind of situation.

“No, no, no,” Cora shook her head. “I told Derek not to cancel on you because I wanted to meet you, he’s told me about you.”

“Oh he has, has he?” Stiles raised an eyebrow at Derek.

Derek looked sheepish and shrugged. “We skype weekly, she always wants to know what’s going on in my life.”

“Let’s go to lunch!” Cora suggested.

“I don’t know,” Derek said at the same time Stiles started shaking his head.

“Derek come on, I haven’t been to The Golden Wolf in ages, I miss the food,” Cora whined. “Stiles, are you hungry?”

Stiles looked from Cora to Derek. “If Derek’s buying I could eat,” Stiles said.

“Yes!” Cora exclaimed. “Okay, I’m going to get changed. Stiles I’m sure Derek has a jacket you can borrow.”

Neither of them told her that Stiles’ suit jacket was hanging up in Derek’s closet; Stiles had left it on Derek’s couch a few weeks ago.

Once Cora had left the room Derek kissed Stiles. “You don’t have to come to lunch with us,” Derek said. “I can tell Cora no, she’s probably going to be staying until after Christmas, so we’ll have plenty of time to catch up.”

“I want to,” Stiles said. “Besides, maybe Cora can share some embarrassing childhood stories.”

Derek groaned, and for very good reason, since Cora did indeed have a number of embarrassing stories to share.

Sitting at Derek’s usual table at The Golden Wolf, Stiles was doing all he possibly could not to cry from laughing so hard. Derek had his head in his hands as his sister told Stiles all about the time she and Laura had caught Derek singing Spice Girls songs.

“I wish I still had the video,” Cora laughed. “You should have seen it, it was priceless.”

“I was twelve,” Derek shook his head. “And you were seven, how do you even remember this?”

“Oh Der,” Cora patted her brother on the arm. “As if I could ever forget you belting out the words to _Wannabe_.”

Derek looked like he wanted to disappear. Stiles thought it was adorable.

“Okay enough embarrassing my brother,” Cora decided. “I want to know about you Stiles.”

“Uh, what do you want to know?” Stiles asked, picking at his food.

“What do you study?”

“Pre-industrialist history,” Stiles told her. “Basically everything before the 1800’s. Although I have taken a few classes that focus on industrialism, to understand exactly what impacts it had.”

“What do you want to do with that? Teach?” Cora asked. “Or something else?”

Stiles shrugged. “I’d like to work for a museum, I applied for an internship to work in the local one after Christmas.”

“That’s so cool,” Cora smiled. “I hope you get it.”

“Me too,” Stiles laughed.

“I’m sure you will,” Derek told him.

“What about your family?” Cora changed the subject. “Do they live nearby?”

“My dad’s a local sheriff. My mom, she, uh, she passed away when I was young,” Stiles explained. “And I don’t have any siblings.”

Cora gave Stiles an understanding smile, and then Derek jumped in and changed the subject again.

“Cora, are you planning to visit Peter while you’re in town?”

Cora rolled her eyes and put down her fork. “I suppose I should,” she said. “I’ll visit with him if you come too.”

“I have to work with him every day,” Derek told her. “You can visit him by yourself.”

Stiles sat back and listened to the siblings bicker. He knew if they were human Derek and Cora probably would have had no problem cutting Peter out of their lives completely, but the pack bond made things different; Peter was an asshole but he was still pack to them.

Ultimately Derek gave in and agreed to visit Peter with Cora. Cora smiled triumphantly.

“Anyway,” Cora turned her attention back to Stiles. “How did you and Derek meet? He refuses to tell me.”

“My best friend is in a band and they were playing a club downtown, I was there to support them and I met Derek at the bar,” Stiles told her.

Both Stiles and Derek had smiles on their faces as they remembered that night.

“What were _you_ doing in a downtown club watching a local band?” Cora asked her brother.

“It was right after I broke up with Jennifer,” Derek explained.

“How soon after?” Cora was trying to work out the timeline in her mind.

Derek fiddled with his cutlery.

“Derek,” Cora prompted.

“The day it happened,” Derek admitted. “I broke up with Jen that morning, went to the Gala that night, and then I ended driving around downtown until I found the club and went in.”

Stiles was a bit taken aback. He knew that Derek had broken up with socialite Jennifer Blake before they met. He knew he had been a rebound fuck, but he hadn’t known that Derek had broken up with Jennifer just _hours_ before they met.

 ***

On the way out of the restaurant Derek went ahead to hail a cab, Cora linked her arm with Stiles’ and leaned in close.

“I’m glad it was you Derek went home with that night,” she told Stiles.

“Really?”

“Yep,” Cora smiled. “You seem like a nice enough guy, I think you’ll be good for him. Derek deserves good.”

“You know we’re not really dating, right?” Stiles asked. He was glad Cora didn’t hate him like Peter seemed to, but he didn’t want to give her the wrong idea about what kind of relationship he and Derek had.

“I don’t care if you’re just sleeping together,” Cora said. “As long as you don’t hurt him you’re good for him.” Cora stopped walking so she could look Stiles in the eye. “But if you do hurt him, rest assured that they’ll never find your body.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

Cora laughed and dragged Stiles forward towards the cab again.

***

The next day Lydia walked into Stiles and Scott’s apartment as though she owned the place. The two boys were sitting on the couch playing a video game, they both greeted her without looking away from the TV screen.

“Cora Hale spotted out and about with new beau,” Lydia read off her phone.

“What?” Stiles asked, finally looking up. Cora hadn’t mentioned a boyfriend when they’d gone out to lunch.

Lydia held up a hand and continued reading. “Cora Hale, back in the country for the holidays, was seen leaving The Golden Wolf arm in arm with an unknown man. The couple laughed and talked while Cora’s older brother, President of Hale and Co, Derek Hale, hailed a cab for the three of them.”

“Oh fuck,” Stiles dropped his controller.

“They think you’re dating Derek’s sister?” Scott asked.

“You two make a cute couple,” Lydia said, turning her phone around to show Stiles a photo of him and Cora snapped by the paparazzi.

Stiles groaned. “I didn’t even know people were taking photos.”

“I think that’s the point of a telephoto lens,” Lydia said, sitting down on the armchair.

“How come they’ve never thought you and Derek are dating then?” Scott stood up to get a drink. “I mean the two of you have been out together before, right?”

“We,” Stiles sighed. “We don’t act like a couple when we’re out. We don’t do PDA.” Stiles looked at Lydia. “Do you think Derek’s seen this?”

“Only one way to find out,” Lydia shrugged.

Stiles pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled Derek’s number while Scott and Lydia watched on.

“Hey Stiles,” Cora greeted.

“Hi Cora,” Stiles said. “Is Derek there?”

“He’s in the shower, which is why I answered the phone,” Cora explained. “Oh! Did you see you’re apparently my new boyfriend?”

“That’s why I was calling actually.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cora told him. “I tweeted saying you’re a family friend and making fun of the paps for spreading lies like usual. I’ll go out clubbing sometime after thanksgiving, they’ll spot me with a new guy and everyone will forget about us being seen together.”

“Uh, that’s good, I guess?” Stiles had no idea how to handle this situation. “Does Derek know about it?”

“Yeah, he knows,” Cora sounded almost bored. “This happens almost every time I come to visit. I get spotted with a guy and suddenly I’m pregnant or getting married.”

“Sorry,” Stiles didn’t know what else to say.

“It’s not your fault,” Cora told him. “It’s just something that comes with being a Hale. Our family has such history everyone’s interested in what we’re doing.”

“Cora!” Stiles heard Derek shout in the background. “Why do you have my phone?”

“Stiles called!” Cora yelled back.

“Give me that,” Derek said and Stiles heard Derek take the phone from Cora.

“So I hear you’re dating my sister,” Derek deadpanned.

“Yeah,” Stiles laughed. “I would have told you but I had to hear about it from Lydia.”

“Sorry you got dragged into the paparazzi bullshit,” Derek said.

“It’s fine,” Stiles told him. “I’m sure there are worse rumours people could start than me and Cora being an item.”

“That’s true,” Derek agreed. “At least this time they’re not running headlines saying she was doing coke with hookers.”

“Yeah! I’d never do coke! We were doing ecstasy, and they were strippers, not hookers!” Cora shouted in the background and Derek laughed.

“Is she kidding?” Stiles asked.

“About the drugs yes, the strippers on the other hand no, not kidding about those.”

“Seriously?” Stiles was in disbelief.

“Seriously. She was staying here that weekend. I woke up to find her and two strippers passed out on the couches.”

“It was one stripper and my friend,” Cora interrupted, trying to take the phone from Derek.

“Cora go away,” Derek chastised and there was a grunt of pain from Cora. Stiles bit the inside of his cheek at the mental image of the two Hale’s fighting over the phone, and Derek elbowing his sister to get her out of the way.

“Speaking of me and strippers,” Cora said, apparently winning the fight over the phone. “I’m going out tomorrow night, there’s a special event on at one of my clubs, and Derek keep’s telling me he’s too old to go clubbing with me.”

“I am too old!” Derek yelled over Cora.

Stiles snorted. “He’s acting like he’s fifty.”

“I know!” Cora agreed. “Anyway, you have to convince him to come out, you should come too!”

“I don’t know,” Stiles hesitated. “My friends and I were actually planning something tomorrow night.”

“Invite them along,” Cora insisted. “Please, Stiles? Free entry into one of the best clubs in the city, just let me know how many of you there are.”

“Hang on,” Stiles turned to Lydia and Scott. “Cora wants to take us out tomorrow, free entry to one of the best clubs she said.”

“Which club?” Lydia asked.

Stiles repeated the question to Cora. “Lydia wants to know what club.”

“Chaos,” Cora supplied. “Free entry to Chaos with DJ Foxfire preforming.”

“The club’s Chaos,” Stiles told Lydia. “And the DJ is DJ Foxfire.”

Lydia narrowed her eyes. “Derek’s sister can get us into an event that has been sold out for months?”

Stiles nodded. “Apparently.”

Lydia snatched the phone from Stiles’ hand and Stiles made and indignant noise.

“Hi Cora, I’m Lydia, one of Stiles’ friends. We’d love to go to Chaos with you. I’ll get Stiles to text Derek with how many of us will be there,” Lydia laughed at something Cora said that Stiles couldn’t hear. “No problem, we’ll see the two of you tomorrow night.”

***

Stiles was surprised by the amount of people waiting to get into Chaos on a Sunday night. The music was pumping, and the line of people waiting to get in was almost wrapped around the block when Stiles and his friends met Cora and Derek at the entrance of Chaos. Cora was wearing a tiny black dress and heels and her hair was pulled up into a high pony tail, while Derek was dressed in a pair of tight, black jeans and a blue v neck t-shirt. They both looked incredible and a lot of people were staring at them. Stiles made a point of standing close to Derek who responded by putting his arm around Stiles’ waist and resting his hand on Stiles’ hip.

“Guys, this is Derek and his sister Cora,” Stiles started making the introductions. “Derek, Cora, this is Scott, Allison, Isaac and Lydia who you spoke on the phone with.” Stiles pointed to each of his friends in turn.

Stiles realised that his friends meeting his fuck buddy and vice versa was probably weird for everyone involved.

Thankfully Cora saved the day by turning to the bouncers and announcing that their entire party was present. The bouncers gave them all wristbands and immediately let them all pass through without a word.

“They didn’t even check our ID,” Isaac said once they were inside.

Cora turned back and smiled at Isaac. “That’s one of the perks of owning the place,” she shouted over the music.

“Exactly how much of this city does your family own?” Stiles asked Derek.

“A lot,” Derek shrugged. “But this one’s actually all Cora’s. She used some of the money from her trust fund to buy the club and rebrand it, she’s the reason it’s the best in the city.”

Derek and Cora led them up to the VIP lounge where the siblings were greeted by a number of people, many of whom were surprised to see Derek.

“Cora!” A young woman yelled and started heading towards them.

“Kira!” Cora hugged the other woman hello. “You remember my brother Derek, and these are some of our friends. Guys, this is Kira, better known as DJ Foxfire.”

“You guys made it just in time!” Kira grinned. “I’m just about to head down and take over.”

“Go, go, go,” Cora told her. “You’ll rock like always! I’ll still be here when you finish so we’ll talk then!”

The two women shared another hug and Kira rushed off.

A few minutes later the music was lowered and the current DJ started speaking.

“Okay folks, here’s the one you’ve all been waiting for, get ready to get down and dirty with DJ Foxfire!”

The roar from the crowd was deafening as Kira stepped up to the decks and started to play her first track. Once the party was in full swing again Derek turned to Stiles.

“You want a drink?”

Stiles looked around at his friend who were all dancing or already had drinks of their own and nodded. The two of them headed over to the VIP room bar.

“Monkshood tequila?” Stiles suggested.

Derek smiled but shook his head. “Let’s start with something else, we can work up to the tequila.”

“You’re no fun,” Stiles pouted.

Derek rapped on the bar to get the bartenders attention. “Still remember my order?” Derek asked the man.

“Sure thing,” the bartender grabbed two glasses. “Been a long time since we’ve seen you in here, Derek.”

“It’s been a while since Cora’s been home to drag me out,” Derek explained.

Stiles watched in amazement as the bartender mixed two complicated looking drinks, he moved fast and Stiles wasn’t sure what some of the things he poured were.

“Can this even get you drunk?” Stiles eyed the drinks suspiciously when they were placed in front of him and Derek.

“Trust me they can,” the bartender laughed. “It’ll be a bit of a test to see if Hale here still has his tolerance.”

Derek scoffed and took a long drink from his glass.

The bartender turned to Stiles. “Good luck with that one,” he winked.

“Thanks.” Stiles smiled and took his drink.

Derek and Stiles headed back over to the couches where Lydia was sitting.

“Your sister doesn’t waste any time,” Lydia said to Derek.

“What?”

Derek followed Lydia’s gaze to where Cora and Isaac were standing. Isaac was leaning in close to hear what she was saying, and Cora had a hand on Isaac’s chest. Derek rolled his eyes and looked away.

“Where’d Allison and Scott disappear to?” Stiles asked Lydia.

“We’re right here,” Allison answered from behind them.

Stiles turned around to see Scott and Allison with drinks of their own. Scott sat down on the low couch next to Lydia and pulled Allison down onto his lap.

After Lydia accepted an offer to dance, and Scott and Allison were too wrapped up in each other to notice anyone else, Derek finally caved and agreed to do shots with Stiles.

The bartender lined up two shots each for them. The grin Stiles gave Derek caused a feeling of déjà vu; it was the same look Stiles had given Derek when they’d first met. Although this time they were listening to Kira’s remixes instead of Scott’s voice covering Blink-182 songs. This time Derek wasn’t sitting in a punk bar in an expensive suit, looking out of place. This time Derek knew for sure who he was going home with.

“Let’s dance!” Stiles shouted in Derek ear after the second shot.

Derek let Stiles take him by the hand and drag him down from the VIP area to the main dance floor, where they blended into the crowd.

Derek plastered himself against Stiles’ back. He had one hand on Stiles’ hip and the other was splayed across Stiles’ stomach, his pinkie finger brushing the waistband of Stiles’ jeans. Stiles had his head resting against Derek’s shoulder, his neck bared. Stiles put one hand over Derek’s hand that was on his hip, the other hung by his side. They moved together in rhythm with the music and the crowd around them.

Stiles shamelessly ground his ass back against Derek’s crotch. He grinned to himself when Derek’s grip on his hip tightened, and he could hear Derek’s shallow breathing in his ear.

When Derek started pulling Stiles out of the crowd, Stiles thought that they were heading for the exit. However Derek dragged Stiles into the _Staff Only_ area of the club, and into the surprisingly empty men’s bathroom. Derek shoved Stiles into a stall and hastily locked it behind them.

Whatever smartass comment Stiles had been ready to make was smothered by Derek’s mouth. Stiles pushed Derek back against the stall door and sank to his knees. Derek bit his lip to stop himself from making any noise as Stiles took him into his mouth. There was no teasing on Stiles’ part, he swallowed Derek straight down to the base.

Derek and Stiles pushed the limits when it came to semi-public sex before, but this was the biggest risk they had taken; anyone could walk in at any moment. And both of them were _so into it_. On his knees with Derek’s cock down his throat, Stiles was already hard and moaning around Derek’s dick. Derek had his hands fisted in Stiles’ hair and his hips thrust forward, so he was fucking into Stiles’ mouth. Derek bit down on his lip so hard he drew blood when he came down Stiles’ throat.

The two men switched positions. Stiles rising to his feet on shaky legs, and Derek dropping to his knees with his cock still hanging out of his jeans.

Derek’s mouth was sinfully hot and wet, and Stiles let out a groan before he could stop himself. Both men froze in case someone had heard them, but no one came in and it didn’t take long for Derek to resume the task at hand. He knew exactly what to do to make Stiles come hard and fast. Stiles clamped his own hand over his mouth to muffle the noises he was making. Caught up in the heat of the moment, Derek missed the warning that Stiles was coming. As a result Stiles’ come flooded his mouth and a little dripped down from the corner of his lips.

Derek stood up again and Stiles licked his come from Derek’s beard before capturing Derek’s mouth in a kiss. Stiles’ mouth was lush and warm, lips swollen from the blow job and from biting them. Derek realised that his own must look and feel the same way.

The two of them managed to slip back out of the _Staff Only_ area without being stopped; most of the staff knew who Derek was. Both Cora and Scott gave them knowing looks when they returned to the VIP area, but neither of them said anything.

***

The next morning Stiles was getting out of the shower when he heard Derek curse.

“What’s going on?” Stiles stuck his head around the corner of Derek’s ensuite into the bedroom.

“The good news is that story about you and Cora has been retracted,” Derek said, speaking loud enough that Stiles could hear him.

“And the bad news?” Stiles had his jeans on and was pulling his t-shirt on over his head. “Because no one starts a sentence like that unless there’s bad news.”

“The bad news is the retraction was more of a correction, they’ve realised they linked you to the wrong Hale sibling.” Derek turned around his iPad so Stiles could see the photos of them dancing at the club. “And they know your name now.”

“Oh.” Stiles stopped in the middle of the room.

“Yeah,” Derek sighed. “I’m sorry you’ve been dragged into this. I’ll get Erica to work her magic, bury all of it before it gains too much momentum.”

“Why do you need to bury this?” Stiles’ stomach twisted uncomfortably, Derek was acting as if he was embarrassed by being seen out with Stiles.

“They’re calling you my boyfriend,” Derek put the tablet down. “If this gets more attention than just one local paparazzi site people are going to start hounding you. I don’t want that, I -”

“Being called your boyfriend is the worst thing that could happen?” Stiles snapped.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Derek threw back the sheets and went to stand up, but Stiles was already picking up his wallet and phone.

“What did you mean then?” Stiles paused long enough for Derek to stand up and walk around the side of the bed.

“I meant that people who get linked to our family, people who get linked to _me,_ they get dragged into all of the drama that comes along with the Hale name,” Derek scrubbed a hand across his face. “I didn’t want that to happen to you. I didn’t want you to be hounded by paparazzi and forced into a life you didn’t chose. That’s why I was so careful with making sure news of you travelling to France with us didn’t get out, that’s why I made sure Erica smothered everything about you and Cora; because even though it was wrong it still could have impacted you, impacted both of us.”

Stiles toed on his shoes then looked back up at Derek who was waiting for Stiles to say something, anything.

“Did you ever stop and think about asking me what _I_ want?” Stiles asked. “Or were you just worried about how fucking a college kid would reflect on _you_?” 

Derek was stunned, he opened his mouth to reply but didn’t know what to say. Stiles just nodded before turning on heel and leaving the bedroom.

“Stiles, wait!” Derek finally managed to get some words out and followed Stiles.

Stiles stopped at the front door, his hand on the door knob. “Derek I’m cool with being as private as you want,” Stiles said. “But if you’re ashamed of being linked to me you need to say something.”

“I’m not ashamed.”

“Then act like it.”

Before Derek could say anything else to defend himself Stiles had walked out the door. 


	6. Chapter 6

Erica wasn’t too happy about Derek showing up at their door step on what was supposed to be her and Boyd’s day off. She had known Derek giving them a Monday off was too good to be true.

“If you’re worried about those photos of you and Stiles don’t be, I’m already taking care of it,” Erica told him, leading him into the kitchen where she had been cooking.

“That’s the thing,” Derek said. “I need you to not make this disappear.”

“Excuse me? Did someone hit you over the head?”

“Stiles and I had a fight,” Derek slumped down into one of the kitchen chairs. “He thinks trying to make this disappear means I’m ashamed to be seen with him.”

“Did you try telling him you’re not ashamed?” Erica sounded bored, she was focusing more on the bubbling pots on the stove than on Derek.

“Of course I did,” Derek let out a long sigh. “But he won’t listen.”

“And what do you want me to do about it?”

“I have no idea,” Derek admitted. “All I wanted to do was protect him from the media. I never wanted him to think I was ashamed to be seen with him.”

Erica rolled her eyes. “Are you and Stiles exclusive?”

“No?” Derek didn’t look at Erica.

“No? Why is that a question? How do you not know if you’re in an exclusive relationship or not?” Derek shrugged and Erica groaned. “Oh my god. You’re not sleeping with anyone else but you have no idea if the kid is screwing around, right?”

Derek nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” Erica took a deep breath. “Here’s what I’m going to do: since Cora already tweeted saying Stiles is a family friend we’ll stick with that. We’ll tell the press that Stiles was at The Golden Wolf and Chaos as a guest of Cora’s. It was only after the two of you caught up and got talking that you decided to dance. If asked we’ll acknowledge that you and Stiles have been seeing each other off and on. We also attach our usual request that the privacy of all parties involved is respected. I’ll hint at the possibility of a lawsuit just to make sure everyone gets the message. That way you prove to Stiles that you’re not ashamed and his privacy is still protected as much as possible.”

“Erica, you’re the best.” Derek stood up, a smile on his face. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Crash and burn,” Erica told him solemnly. “You’d crash and burn.”

 “I owe you.” Derek was so relieved that there was a way to fix everything. Both he and Erica knew this road was more difficult than just burying the story with some new promise to charity.

“You owe me _so_ badly,” Erica took her phone out of her pocket and pulled up her emails.  “Think 24 carat gold.”

“How about I pay for the baby shower?” Derek asked; a smug smile replacing the grateful one.  

“You know,” Erica said placing her free hand on her stomach.

“You’re my Beta,” Derek pulled her into a hug, “did you really think I wasn’t going to notice something so significant? I was just waiting for you to make an announcement before I said anything.”

Erica returned the hug and mumbled something about Derek being an idiot into his shoulder. Derek pulled back and held Erica at arm’s length.

“It _is_ Boyd’s though, right?” he questioned quirking an eyebrow.

Erica started slapping Derek’s arm with the hand that wasn’t holding her phone. “How dare you!”

She was grinning though and Derek threw up his hands in mock surrender.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“You can apologise with gold,” Erica told him. “Or diamonds!”

“Anything you want,” Derek promised.

“Right now I want you to leave, so I can fix the mess that is your life.”

Derek nodded and started to head for the door.

“And seriously go talk to Stiles!” Erica called after him.

***

It was only a day later, after Stiles ignored all of Derek’s texts and calls, that Derek finally took Erica’s advice and went to see Stiles in person.

Scott opened the door to their apartment and narrowed his eyes when he saw Derek.

“What do you want?

“I want to see Stiles,” Derek said. “I know he’s here. Will you let me in?”

Derek saw the hesitation flicker across Scott’s face. He was torn between stepping aside for an alpha and defending his friend. In all honesty Derek was impressed by the choice the young beta made.  

“Stiles doesn’t want to see you right now.” Scott closed the door in Derek’s face.

“I’ll stay out here all day,” Derek called through the door. “Don’t think I won’t.”

The woman down the hall, curious about the commotion, opened her door to see what was happening. Derek gave her a small wave and she quickly closed the door again.

Derek rapped on the door with his knuckles but there was no answer. Derek didn’t back down, instead he sat on the floor of the hallway. “I’m not leaving!”

Twenty minutes later Derek was still sitting in the hallway when he heard high heels clicking on the old linoleum floor. Derek looked up to see Lydia smirking at him.

“How much do you think TMZ would pay for photos of Derek Hale camping out on the floor of a ratty apartment building, desperately trying to get the attention of the _family friend_ he was spotted out with a few nights ago?”

“Nice to see you again, Lydia,” Derek said in greeting, ignoring everything she had said.

Surprisingly Lydia sat down on the ground next to Derek.

“You going to tell me to give up?” Derek asked.

“Actually I came over to tell Stiles to stop being such an idiot and let you in,” Lydia told him. “But if you think you should give up.”

“No,” Derek said quickly. “I’m not giving up. I just figured you’d be on Stiles and Scott’s side.”

“I am,” Lydia said. “Which is why I’m not just letting you in with the key I have to their apartment. Stiles can be stubborn.”

Derek huffed out a humourless laugh. “Really? I had no idea.”

“Stiles can be stubborn,” Lydia repeated, only slightly put out that Derek had interrupted her. “But he will come around eventually. Besides, you seem just as stubborn as he is. You’re both stubborn idiots. You’re perfect together.”

“Anything I can do to speed up that process od Stiles coming around?” Derek asked. He ignored to comment about him being an idiot.

Lydia stood up and dusted off her skirt. “You’re one of the best businessmen in the country,” she told him. “You’ll figure something out.”

Lydia knocked on the door and Scott opened it for her, he scowled at Derek before closing it again.

“Is he still out there?” Derek heard Stiles ask.

“You are the biggest idiot,” Lydia said in reply.

“I am not,” Stiles protested. “Lydia, he said-”

“Go out there and talk to him,” Lydia interrupted.

“No!” Stiles and Scott said at the same time.

“Stiles doesn’t have to do anything,” Scott said.

“Go!” Lydia snapped.

There was a few more moments of hushed arguing, but there was clearly no arguing with Lydia, because after that the door opened again. Derek quickly stood and came face to face with Scott.

“Uh, me and Lydia are going out for a bit,” Scott said, looking at the ground. “You can go in.”

“Hope you figured something out,” Lydia patted Derek on the chest as she walked past.

Derek stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind Scott and Lydia. Stiles was sitting on the couch and didn’t look up as Derek walked further into the apartment.

“I’m not ashamed.” Derek sat down on the couch, leaving a couch cushion between him and Stiles. “I just didn’t want to see you get hurt because of me, but it looks like I’ve managed to hurt you anyway.”

Derek waited for Stiles to say something but he didn’t, although he did finally look at Derek.

“Erica asked me if we were exclusive and I told her no,” Derek didn’t miss the way Stiles flinched slightly at his words, but Derek continued. “I told her no, not because I’m sleeping with other people, but because I didn’t know if you were.”

“Wouldn’t you be able to smell if I was?” Stiles asked. Derek had to breathe a sigh of relief that Stiles was finally talking to him.

“Yeah, I could,” Derek admitted. “After we first got together I could notice when you smelt like other people, then after a while you stopped smelling like strangers. I never said anything because I didn’t want to force you into anything more committed. We were both happy with the casual thing we had.”

“I still am,” Stiles said quietly. “I’m still happy with what we have.”

“You are?”

Stiles nodded and shifted a little closer to Derek. “I’m not asking for commitment or anything, all I want is when people spot us together you don’t care so damn much. I can handle having my name or picture in some stupid tabloid, I can’t handle you acting ashamed to be seen with me.”

“So, what?” Derek asked. “You’re happy pretending this never happened and going back to our old arrangement?”

“Yeah,” Stiles gave Derek a small smile. “Just because neither of us are seeing anyone else right now doesn’t mean we have to be boyfriends, or that you have to meet my dad, or any of that other crap that comes along with official relationships. We’re both happy with what we have, why fuck that up?”

“Except I did kinda fuck it up.”

“Nah,” Stiles waved off Derek’s admission. “I fucked it up. I just got so pissed that you wanted to act like we were never out together. Plus I was still hung over, and by the time I realised I’d messed up I was too proud to give in.”

“We both fucked up,” Derek compromised.

Stiles let out a bark of laughter and nodded. “Yeah,” He said. “But we can fix it.”

“By pretending that nothing happened?”

“I solve most of my problems by ignoring them until they go away, so why not?”

It was Derek’s turn to laugh. “So we’re back to where we were before?”

Stiles grinned and leaned in close to Derek. “If you’re happy I’m happy.”

“Oh, I’m very happy,” Derek said, before kissing Stiles.


	7. Chapter 7

Scott and Stiles were visiting Melissa for the weekend after Thanksgiving, and the Sheriff was coming over for dinner. Melissa had decided that since the Sheriff had been working over Thanksgiving they were going to make up for it; and no one argued with Melissa McCall.

Stiles was stretched out on the couch with his feet in Scott’s lap, and Isaac was lying on his stomach on the floor, their forgotten textbooks next to him.

They were watching a midday movie that Melissa had decided on, and the three young men had unashamedly gotten sucked into the story about a teenage runaway. However just as the movie was reaching its climax a breaking news report came on screen.

_“We’re sorry for the interruption, but there has been a mass shooting uptown outside of the Regent Hotel.”_

Melissa turned up the volume and Stiles sat up, almost kicking Isaac in the head in the process. The TV screen was now showing footage live from the scene; police were everywhere, they already had two people lying belly down on the ground and were in the process of handcuffing them. The camera zoomed out and panned across the crowd again and Stiles spotted Boyd. It looked like he was arguing with one of the cops, there was blood running down the side of his arm, Stiles had never seen him look so distressed before.

The news reporter began to talk over the footage again. “Police have yet to confirm any fatalities but an officer has admitted that at least one member of the Hale family, who organised today’s event, have been shot.”

“She says that as if there are more than two of them!” Stiles exclaimed, slightly hysterical. Derek and Peter were the only Hale’s that were attending the event, Cora was back in South America.

Scott placed his hand on Stiles’ shoulder and Isaac patted his knee as the reporter continued.

“...well known anti-werewolf group ‘ _Chasse’_ have already taken responsibility for the attack, posting a short video on their website only minutes after the shooting began.”

The anchor stopped talking, and they cut to footage of the video; there was a man in a black balaclava standing in front of a black flag that had a wolfsbane flower on it, when he spoke it became apparent he was using some kind of voice filter.

 _“They are not humans, they are monsters. They are killers. They are dangerous and need to be exterminated,”_ Scott and Isaac sat up straighter and beside them Melissa stood as the man on the screen spoke in short, clipped sentences. _“We will not rest. We will continue our mission. If they continue to threaten our rights more will die.”_

The video suddenly turned to static and cut back to the news reporter. “We’ve got an update from our reporter on the scene.”

The reporter was standing in front of police tape, behind them officers were running back and forth.

“Police have confirmed three casualties so far, however they haven’t released any names,” the reporter said. “At least five victims have been taken to hospital with serious injuries, several more have been treated at the scene. Police and security presence were stepped up for todays’ charity luncheon that was kicking off the Christmas season, after a number of threats were made against the Hale family and other high profile attendees. However the increased security did not deter gunmen from opening fire on the crowd during the red carpet photo-op. Police have detained three men and are still canvassing the surrounding area.”

The television screen went black and Stiles blinked. He looked up to see Melissa, Scott, and Isaac staring at him.

“Stiles,” Melissa said slowly. “Take a deep breath, okay?”

Stiles nodded and took a breath. He hadn’t even realised his breathing had become shallow, or that he was shaking, until his attention had been torn away from the news report.

“Stiles,” Melissa said his name again. She knelt down in front of him so she was the centre of his vision. “Everything’s going to be okay.”  

Scott’s hand was warm and heavy on Stiles’ shoulder. “We don’t know if Derek’s been hurt, I’m sure he’s okay.”

“He was there, he was,” Stiles shook his head and sucked in a shaky breath. “He was complaining about the red carpet photos.”

With shaking fingers Stiles pulled his phone out of his pocket. His messages were still open, the last message from Derek that Stiles never replied to.

[From Derek]: **_I’ll call you when I’m done, probably sometime around 4._**

Stiles called Derek’s number, unconsciously holding his breath while the phone rang. Stiles almost dropped the phone when the call was answered. He brought the phone up to his ear quickly enough to hear Boyd saying his name.

“Stiles?”

“Boyd? What’s going on?” Stiles wasn’t even trying to sound calm. “Is he…?”

“He’s at the hospital,” there was an edge of worry to Boyd’s voice. “He was hit in the chest and rushed to the hospital. He’s at Beacon Hills Memorial. The EMT’s said he’d probably need surgery. I don’t know anything else.”

Stiles ran a hand through his hair, tears pricked at his eyes and it felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. “I just had to call. I had to know.”

“I have to go, Stiles,” Boyd said. “I’ll let you know when I hear anything.”

The call went dead and Stiles cradled the phone in his hand.

“Stiles?” Scott squeezed his friends shoulder.

“He’s at the hospital. I have to – I need to,” Stiles trailed off.

“Yeah,” Scott nodded. “We’ll go to the hospital as soon as you’ve calmed down a bit more. He’s gonna be okay, Stiles.” 

***

“I’m sorry sir. Mr. Hale is in a serious condition right now, and because of the circumstances security has been tightened,” the nurse was obviously trying to be sweet and understanding, but her tone fell flat and her smile didn’t reach her eyes, “so only family are allowed to visit.”

“But he doesn’t have any family!” Stiles exclaimed.

“I’m sorry,” the nurse repeated, “I’m just following procedure.”

Stiles scrubbed his hands down his face and started pacing again. He was alone, after finding out that Derek had made it out of surgery okay he had convinced Scott, Isaac, and Melissa to go home. Stiles could see the two police officers standing outside a hospital room, just twenty feet down the corridor, and he knew that had to be where Derek was.

He was contemplating trying to bribe the police when he heard someone calling his name.

“Stiles!” Boyd was walking towards him; he had a bandage wrapped around his bicep. 

“Boyd,” Stiles greeted then gestured to the bandage. “Are you okay? Are you healing?”

“Yeah I’m fine,” Boyd told him. “The bullets had a higher concentration of wolfsbane than any one’s seen before, so the wounds are just taking longer to heal.”

“How’s Erica? I haven’t seen or heard anything about her?” Stiles asked.

“She’s fine, she was already inside when the shooting began. She’s with the police now running through all the threats the company has received lately.”

“I thought _Chasse_ has already taken credit for the attack?”

Boyd shrugged and started walking down the hall towards the police officers. “She’s just doing what the cops ask her to. That’s why I took so long to get here, they kept asking me questions too. I finally managed to convince them that Erica knows everything I do.” Boyd changed the subject. “Have you see Derek yet?”

“ _I’m not family_ ,” Stiles said mimicking the nurse’s voice. “So they won’t let me.”

“I’d like to see them try and stop me,” Boyd put his hand on Stiles’ shoulder, “let’s go see the boss.”

The officers had been watching Boyd and Stiles and pulled up to their full heights, preparing for trouble.

“Gentlemen this ward is currently off-limits-” One of the officers began.

“Vernon Boyd. Head of Security for Hale and Co,” Boyd interrupted holding up his identification. “And this is Mr. Stilinski, who, is a very close family friend of the Hale’s. We are the closest thing Mr Hale has to family right now, since his younger sister is currently out of the country.”

The two officers exchanged glances then stepped aside. “We can let you have a few minutes.” The older of the two said.

“We’ll leave when Mr. Hale wants us to leave,” Boyd told him walking into the hospital room.

The laugh Stiles was holding back disappeared completely when he saw Derek. Stiles had never seen Derek look so sick or weak; his skin was deathly pale and there were dark bags under his eyes. An IV was inserted in his forearm and a heart rate monitor attached to his finger. The steady beeping was the only noise in the room.

“Boyd,” Derek’s voice was soft and he didn’t open his eyes.

“You gave us a bit of a scare there,” Boyd said, stepping closer to Derek’s bed, “take my eyes off you for a second and you go and get yourself shot.”

Derek let out a shaky laugh. “And I was complaining that the luncheon was going to be boring.”

There was a pause and Stiles counted 5 beeps from the heart rate monitor before Derek spoke again.

“He’s dead isn’t he?” Derek asked his eyes still closed. “I heard two of the nurses talking.”

“Yeah man,” Boyd confirmed. “Wolfsbane bullet straight to the head. He was gone before we even knew what was happening.”

There was no doubt in Stiles’ mind that they were talking about Peter. Stiles felt his stomach sink. He didn’t like the man, but he felt terrible for Derek, he felt awful that Derek had lost yet another family member.

Derek nodded. “Who was it? Aconitum? The Silver Bullets?”

“Chasse.”

“Kate.”

Stiles looked at Boyd then back to Derek but neither of their expressions betrayed what they were thinking. Derek’s eyes were still shut; as if he didn’t want to open them and face what was happening. This was the first time Derek had mentioned the name Kate since Paris. From the way Peter had compared Derek’s relationship with her to his relationship with Stiles, Stiles had assumed she was an ex-girlfriend. However she was apparently a member of a domestic terrorist group hell bent on killing werewolves. This raised more questions for Stiles than it answered.

“They haven’t found her yet but the cops are looking. She’s good though, she might not even be in town,” Boyd shrugged.

“She’ll be here; she wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to pull the trigger on me.”

“Well she’s a lousy fucking shot,” Boyd said which made Derek laugh again.

“Yeah she is.” Derek paused. “I’m starting to think you’ve brought a pile of Stiles’ dirty washing with you, because there’s no way he’s been standing there so quietly this whole time,” Derek’s mouth twitched upwards.

“Hey!” Stiles protested. “I can be quiet when I want to be!”

“He speaks!” Derek exclaimed and Boyd snorted.

“If I’d known a near fatal injury would make you funny I would have shot you months ago,” Stiles muttered.

“I think it’s less bullet and more werewolf morphine,” Derek admitted.

“ _Werewolf morphine,_ ” Stiles repeated, stressing the individual words.

“Some painkiller they’ve developed for wolfsbane related injuries. It takes longer to heal from injuries inflicted by wolfsbane weapons and that means we experience the pain,” Derek explained. “So yeah, _werewolf morphine_.”

“I’m gonna go grab a coffee, either of you want anything?” Boyd asked.

“I’m good,” Stiles replied while Derek shook his head.

Stiles walked over to the chair by Derek’s bed and sat down.

“Stiles I’m okay, I’m alive,” Derek told him. He finally opened his eyes.

“I can see that buddy.”

“Then why do you still smell like fear and sadness?”

“Because I’ve been worried about you since I first saw the shooting on the news,” Stiles told him. “And hospitals don’t instil a sense of comfort in me at the best of times.”

Derek held out his hand towards Stiles. “You were worried about me?”

“Of course I was,” Stiles took Derek’s hand. “Someone tried to kill you.”

“It’s not the first time and probably won’t be the last,” Derek shrugged.

“How are you so calm about this?”

“Stiles, I get threatened all the time,” Derek said. “A month ago I got a three page letter detailing how this person planned to disembowel me.”

Stiles shook his head in disbelief. “You’ve never mentioned any of this before.”

“The hate mail I get isn’t really something that sets the mood,” Derek pointed out. Stiles flinched internally. Because, _yeah_ , that was the relationship they had. Sex. Derek didn’t have to divulge anything about his personal life. “And I don’t want you to worry about me,” Derek added.

“Too late.”

“It’s like every time I try to protect you it backfires.” Derek said, but there was a ghost of a smile on his lips.

At that moment Boyd came back into the room, accompanied by a doctor.

“Mr Hale, you appear to have a guardian angel,” The doctor said. “Another inch or so to the left and the bullet would have torn through your heart.”

Derek nodded. “When can I go home?”

“We’re going to keep you for a few days, just to make sure there aren’t any complications from the surgery, or that there isn’t any lasting wolfsbane poisoning.”

“Is it an unusual strain?” Derek asked.

“No, we’ve seen this strain before but the concentration is almost triple what we’ve treated before.”

“So the bullets used were weaponized privately?”

“You’d have to ask the police about that,” the doctor shrugged.

“Of course,” Derek tried to sit up more and winced in pain.  

Boyd had dragged the second chair in the room to the other side of Derek’s bed and sat down. The beta put his hand on Derek’s forearm. Stiles saw the blackness wind its way through Boyd’s veins as he leeched the pain from Derek.

“You should get some rest, Mr Hale,” the doctor said.

“Can they stay for a while longer?” Derek asked.

The doctor considered it for a moment. “Ten minutes,” the doctor’s voice left no room for argument.

***

Three hours later Derek woke up to a shuffling noise. Derek sat up, instincts telling him to fight, then his eyes adjusted to the dim light and he saw Stiles.

“What are you doing here?” Derek lay back down. “How did you get past the police?”

“You might want to ask for a better protection detail,” Stiles smirked.

Stiles sat down in the chair next to the bed, taking Derek’s hand in his without hesitation.

“You’re going to be in so much trouble.”

“Isn’t the first time, won’t be the last,” Stiles shrugged and inched the chair closer to the bed.

“What are you doing here?” Derek asked again.

“Even though I knew you were okay, and I only saw you a couple of hours ago, I just couldn’t stop worrying,” Stiles said.

“So you snuck into a restricted area of the hospital to see me,” Derek finished for him.

Stiles nodded, and even in the semi-darkness of the hospital room the pink blush on his cheeks was apparent. Derek squeezed Stiles’ hand but didn’t say anything else.

“You should go back to sleep,” Stiles said. “I’ll stay until someone catches me and kicks me out.”

Derek nodded. He closed his eyes and focused on the sound of Stiles’ heartbeat next to him, instead of the beeping that was measuring his own.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas time for the remaining Hale's and Stiles. With some good ol' fashioned Hale Family Feels mixed in, as well as some more schmoopy sterek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was rushing to finish my final assignment for the year today, and the lovely comments, and the messages i got on tumblr, were the only things to cheer me up all day. I know i dont reply to your comments, but thats because im so overwhelmed by people liking it and saying nice things, i dont know what to say. But i do read every comment and they make my day. 
> 
> so anyway, i decided to upload the next chapter now to say thanks for being so supportive (also bc i dont have the heart to space out the chapters by even a couple of days let alone a week or more) 
> 
> also this chapter is dedicated to [Rennie](http://fangsup.co.vu/), i mean the whole fic is dedicated to her, but this is _her_ chapter. months ago when we were talking about ideas for the fic she wanted me to write myself in, but i dont do self insertion fics, so i decided to write her in as derek's secretary instead.

Stiles had gotten used to the odd stares he got from the middle age business men in suits during the elevator ride up to Derek’s office, they had died off over the few months Derek and Stiles had known each other. However in light of recent events now everyone knew exactly who Stiles was, and the stares and whispers were back with vigour. Especially since Derek was back at work so soon after being shot.

"Hi I'm here to meet Derek, is he ready to leave yet??" Stiles asked the receptionist, Lauren.

"He was on the phone a moment ago but I'll check to see if he's free yet, just a moment hon," She told him moving to stand. But before she could do anything Derek was already opening his office door; his jacket folded over his arm.

“Mr Hale,” Lauren greeted. “I was just about to check if you were busy.”

“I heard,” Derek smiled.

 _Damn werewolf senses,_ Stiles thought.

“If you’re leaving would it be okay if I left as well?” Lauren asked. “I’ve got plans for tonight.”

“Of course Lauren,” Derek told her.

“Please Mr. Hale, I’ve told you, call me Rennie.”

She was all red hair, blue eyes, tight pencil skirts and flirty smiles. Stiles knew he had no right to be jealous, but he didn’t like the way she looked at Derek.

“I’ll start calling you Rennie when you start calling me Derek.”

And Stiles didn’t like the way Derek flirted back.

“Stiles and I will walk you down to the lobby,” Derek continued, placing his free hand on Stiles’ shoulder.

At least he hadn’t forgotten Stiles was standing there.

The three of them headed for the elevator, Derek telling Lauren what he’d need her to do in the morning. Stiles had to stop himself from reacting physically when Lauren replied; “Of Course Mr. Hale, anything for you.”

Derek made small talk with several employees in the elevator. He didn’t mention anything business related, instead asking about one guys kids and enquiring about a woman’s husband, who’d apparently surgery the week prior. Derek kept his hand on Stiles shoulder the entire ride, so Stiles was greeted with polite smiles by everyone who got on.

When they reached the lobby Lauren was met by a tall brunette woman who immediately pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the lips.

“Mr Hale I don’t know if you remember my girlfriend,” Lauren said.

 “Of course,” Derek took the other woman’s hand. “You wore that blue dress to the company Christmas party, I remember you matched my tie.”

“It’s lovely to see you again Mr Hale,” Lauren’s girlfriend laughed.

Lauren was in a relationship and Derek was friendly with all of his staff, and their families; the jealousy Stiles had been feeling disappeared.

Derek didn’t say anything about Stiles’ apparent jealously until they were in the car and heading towards Derek’s place.

“You don’t like me flirting with other people,” Derek observed.

“I don’t care,” Stiles said, looking out the window. There were a few beats of silence before Stiles sighed. “Maybe I don’t like seeing you flirt with other people in front of me,” he admitted. He knew it was pretty much pointless to lie to a werewolf. He also knew that Derek wouldn’t back down until Stiles told the truth. “I know I shouldn’t _care_ ,” Stiles continued. He was doing everything he could to avoid using the word jealousy. “And you can flirt with whoever you want. I just don’t really want to see it.”

“Okay,” Derek nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Stiles let out a small laugh but didn’t say anything else.

Derek bit his tongue. He didn’t blame Stiles for being annoyed, he would have been jealous if Stiles had been flirting with someone else in front of him. A part of him wanted to tell Stiles that. However he felt it was better to drop the topic completely.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence. Although it wasn’t awkward; it rarely ever was. Even Stiles, who sometimes found it hard to keep quiet, found the silences with Derek easy.

When they got to Derek’s apartment they found Cora lying on the couch, with _Deck the Halls_ playing loudly.

“For Christ’s sake Cora,” Derek muttered. He picked up the remote off the coffee table and turned the music down, although he didn’t turn it off completely.

“Tis the season, Der,” Cora said brightly.

“Don’t call me that,” Derek said while Stiles snickered.

Derek tossed the remote at Cora, he looked around the room and his eyes were drawn to the small tree in the corner by the TV. A few wrapped presents were scattered underneath.

“Cora?” Derek turned to look at his sister.

“I thought it would be nice,” Cora shrugged.

Derek took off his overcoat and suit jacket, he tossed them over the back of the couch and made his way over to the tree. He knelt down and ran his fingers across the tinsel hanging off the plastic branches. Derek looked over presents, they were wrapped neatly but had Cora’s signature messy scrawl on the labels.

“These all say my name,” Derek said.

“There’s one there for Stiles too.” Cora stood up and walked over to the tree as well. She crouched down beside her brother and showed him a gift that had been hidden behind another parcel.

“You brought me a Christmas present?” Stiles asked from his place on one of the arm chairs.

“I saw something that reminded me of you when I was out shopping,” Cora shrugged again like it was no big deal.

Without a word Derek stood up and walked out of the room. He headed down the hall towards the bedrooms. Stiles looked at Cora.

“Don’t give me that look,” she told him. “I can’t read his mind.”

Derek returned before Stiles could say anything in return. The older man was carrying a brown paper bag. He walked back over to the Christmas tree and pulled out three wrapped gifts. Two were labelled with Cora’s name, the third with Stiles’.

Stiles moved over to sit by the tree with the Hale siblings. He smiled when he saw his name written on gifts in both Cora and Derek’s hand writing.

“Now I feel a lot less awkward,” Stiles said. He unzipped his backpack and pulled out two envelopes tied with red and green ribbon.

Cora snatched the one with her name out of Stiles’ hand. “I know there’s still a week until Christmas, but we can open them now, right?” She asked.

“I don’t have a problem with that,” Stiles said. Derek nodded in agreement and took the gift Stiles was holding out to him.

“If Derek’s is sex coupons tell me now so I can leave,” Cora said.

“It’s not,” Stiles told her. “But that’s a great idea. I’ll keep that in mind for his birthday.”

Derek rolled his eyes and Cora made a gagging motion. The two Hale’s ripped open the envelopes at the same time.

“Tickets,” Cora said, pulling her ticket free from the envelope.

“So I didn’t get that internship at the museum,” Stiles said. “But they told me I should try again for the autumn semester, and they gave me some free tickets to the Norse Mythology exhibit. It’s not much, but it’s hard to shop for people who could buy an island if they felt like it.”

“It’s great, Stiles,” Derek reassured him.

“It is,” Cora agreed. “Open mine,” she passed Stiles the gift wrapped in paper with little illustrations of elves on it.

Stiles ripped open the present, he pulled out a soft, black t-shirt and unfolded it. The front of the t-shirt read: _In heaven everyone has a batmobile_ in white writing.

Stiles laughed. “Thanks Cora.”

“Derek mentioned you’re a pretty big Batman fan,” Cora said.

“Here Cora,” Derek handed his sister the smaller of his two gifts. “Open this one first.”

The way Derek handled the gift made Cora treat it more carefully than she had when opening the envelope, or handing Stiles his gift. She tore the paper away to reveal a black velvet jewellery box. Cora opened the box to find a round pendant on a gold chain, the pendant had a triskele engraved on it.

“Is this?” Cora picked up the necklace and ran her finger across the connected spirals.

“Yeah,” Derek nodded, his voice was soft. “It is. I found it in Peter’s things, well I found the pendant. I had to get a new chain. Look at the back.”

Cora turned the pendant over to see the three words engraved on the back.

“Alpha, Beta, Omega,” Cora and Derek recited the words together.

“Can I ask?” Stiles’ curiosity finally got the better of him.

“It was our mothers,” Derek told him.

Cora put the necklace back in the box carefully and closed the lid. She turned to the presents sitting under the tree then selected one of the largest and handed it to her brother.

“If we’re going with the sentimental stuff open this one,” Cora said.

The large box that Derek opened was filled to the brim with packing peanuts. Derek sifted through the foam pieces and pulled out a glass vase. Derek huffed out a laugh and shook his head.

“I found it in a second hand store when I was in England,” Cora told him. “The owner had no idea why I was so excited to find it.”

“Mom had a vase just like this,” Cora said before Stiles had the chance to ask. “Dad gave it to her for their fifth wedding anniversary. She thought it was the ugliest thing in the world.”

“I broke it when I was thirteen,” Derek added. “Mom never let me live it down.”

Stiles leaned in against Derek, he rested his head against Derek’s shoulder and looked at the vase. “It really is ugly,” he said.

“It is,” Derek laughed properly this time.

Cora stood up and ruffled Derek’s hair on her way past. She picked up the remote off the couch and turned the music back up.

“Enough of the sentimental mush,” Cora decided. “Derek, open the one in red and white striped paper.”

Derek picked up the gift Cora told him to and shook it. When it rattled Derek groaned but tore open the package anyway.

“Bath salts?” Stiles asked.

“For the past, what? Five years?” Derek looked at Cora.

“Six years,” Cora corrected.

“For the past six years Cora has brought me bath salts,” Derek explained. “And I bet at least three of those will be massage oils or similar,” he gestured to the remaining gifts. Cora laughed but didn’t confirm or deny. “She thinks I need to take a bath or something and relax,” Derek finished.

“Maybe she has a point,” Stiles shrugged.

Derek shoved Stiles away from himself but there was a smile on Derek’s face, and he quickly pulled Stiles close again.

“Here,” Derek passed Stiles his gift.

“Do I get a family heirloom too?” Stiles joked.

“Maybe next year.” Derek put his arm around Stiles’ shoulders.

Stiles tore open the gift and when he saw what it was he was stunned. The book in Stiles’ hands had a cracking leather dust cover on it. The words on the cover were fading but still readable.

“Bound to the Moon: An Anthology of Lycan Essays,” Stiles read. “How the Industrial Revolution impacted the lives of packs.”

“It’s first addition,” Derek told him. “Published in 1901. You mentioned that reading the abridged version was the only thing that you really liked about the post-industrialism class you had to take.”

“Derek this is,” Stiles looked at Derek then back to the book, shaking his head in disbelief. “This is too much. Seriously, I can’t accept this.” Stiles tried to hand the book to Derek.

“Merry Christmas, Stiles,” Derek said.

The werewolf stood up, ignoring further protests from Stiles, and made himself comfortable on the couch that Cora wasn’t stretched out on. After a few more moments of staring at the book in disbelief, Stiles stood up as well and sat by Derek’s side on the couch.

Stiles leafed through the pages of the book. It was in surprisingly good condition for its age. Stiles didn’t even want to think about how much it would have cost Derek.

“How can one possibly pay attention to a book with no pictures in it?” Derek asked as Stiles paused on a page and started to read.

Stiles shook his head with a fond smile on his face, and Cora snorted.

“I think I could recite every word from that movie in my sleep because of Laura,” Cora said.

“Same,” Derek admitted. “Even though it’s been years. I can’t look at a cup of tea without thinking of the Mad Hatter.”

Derek was watching Stiles read when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Derek opened the new message to find a photo from Cora. The photo was of Derek and Stiles; it showed Stiles’ eyes glued to the book, and Derek’s eyes glued to Stiles’ face; a similar look of awe and reverence on both their faces. The image was captioned: _the two of you make me sick_. Derek scowled at Cora, who giggled, but Derek saved the photo to his gallery anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can find the shirt that Cora gives to Stiles [here](http://www.snorgtees.com/in-heaven-everyone-has-a-batmobile)


	9. Chapter 9

Two weeks after Christmas Derek and Stiles were eating takeout in Derek’s apartment, when Derek got a call from the District Attorney’s office.

“Derek,” the woman on the phone greeted. “I’m calling to let you know the police have arrested Kate Argent.”

The rest of the phone call was a blur for Derek, he nodded along and agreed to whatever the woman was saying, barely taking in any of the important details. He couldn’t believe it, after all these years they finally had Kate in custody.

“Is everything okay?” Stiles asked when Derek ended the call.

Derek nodded and a smile broke out across his face. “That was the District Attorney’s Office, they said the police have Kate in custody,” he said. “They’re going to bring her up on domestic terrorism and hate crime charges, for playing a role in orchestrating both the mass shooting and for the bombing. It looks like she’s going to plead not guilty and it’ll go to trial. They were letting me know, that if it goes to trial, I’ll probably have to take the stand, and if she does plead out I’ll have to write a victim impact statement to submit to the judge when they sentence her.”

“Derek that’s great!” Stiles exclaimed, he put down his food and pulled the older man into a hug.

“Yeah,” Derek nodded and hugged Stiles back. Derek’s smile fell and he sounded less than happy.

“What is it?” Stiles pulled back and looked at Derek. “I thought you’d be ecstatic that she’s finally facing charges.”

“I am,” Derek told him. “It’s just, I’ve never told anyone the whole story about what happened with Kate before, and now I might have to go into a courtroom full of strangers and talk about it. Or at least write it down and submit it to a judge, either way it’ll be on public record.”

“Do you want to try telling me first?” Stiles offered. “I mean it might be good to practice it first if you’re going to have to tell a judge and jury, and there’s the possibility the mainstream media might run with it-”

“Stiles,” Derek interrupted. “Really not helping.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Stiles shook his head to refocus his thoughts. “But seriously you can tell me if you want, and honestly it’s probably not healthy that you’ve kept it to yourself for this long anyway.” Stiles would be lying if he said he didn’t want to know about Derek and Kate’s past, but he didn’t want to push Derek and make him uncomfortable.

“I don’t know where to start.” Derek admitted.

“Start at the beginning, and when you come to the end. Stop.”

“How’d you know I like _Alice in Wonderland_?” Derek asked, smiling.

Stiles was pleased he’d managed to make Derek smile after such a bad day. “You’ve mentioned once or twice that Laura used to make you watch it on repeat when you were kids.”

“I was basically still a kid when I met Kate,” Derek admitted. “I’d just turned 16 and I met her at the mall, of all places.”

He paused. Talking about Kate brought up all the memories he’d spent most of his adult life trying to suppress. But this would all be coming out one way or another, and Stiles was probably right, the media would find out, so he’d better get used to talking about it.

“She was wearing this really strong flowery perfume and approached me when I was waiting for my friends,” Derek said, the memory of her scent still fresh in his mind, even after all these years. “She asked me how old I was and when I told her she said that I looked a lot older. She flirted with me and laughed at everything I said, even when it wasn’t funny. She asked me about school, and about being a werewolf. I never even questioned how she knew, but looking back it was obvious she’d been stalking me and my family, trying to find a way in.” Derek shook his head. “I was so stupid”

“No you weren’t,” Stiles assured him. “She manipulated you.”

Derek took a deep breath before continuing. “She gave me the number of the hotel she was staying at, told me I should call her so we could meet in private. It took me two days to work up the nerve to call her, I couldn’t believe a woman who was older and so beautiful would be interested in a 16 year old kid. But when she answered the phone the first thing she said was ‘ _I was hoping you’d call’._ ”

“So you met up with her in private?” Stiles prompted when Derek fell silent again, lost in the memory.

“Yeah,” Derek nodded. “In her hotel room. We slept together.” Derek skipped over the details. He wasn’t ready to discuss that just yet. “It continued on like that for a few weeks. I thought I was in love,” Derek scoffed. “She had this way of getting me to talk, she’d ask me all kinds of questions. One minute she’d be asking me about basketball and the next about the kind of security that my parents had. She got all of the information about what kind of security the charity function would have. She figured out the best places to plant the bombs and cause maximum damage because of me.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Stiles said. He was trying to just let Derek tell the story, but he was angry about the way Kate had used him. When Stiles got angry it was hard for him to keep his mouth shut.

Derek decided to skip further ahead in the story. “After the bombing I told Laura everything and she got me to tell the police, but they never found her. She sent me a series of letters too, like she was taunting me.”

“You haven’t seen her in the last thirteen years?” Stiles asked.

“No,” Derek shook his head. “Every now and again some of the threats the company got sounded like they could have been from her, but no one ever followed through on the threats. Not until the shooting.”

“Do you think you’re going to be able to tell all of that to a full courtroom?”

“If I have to.”

Stiles linked his fingers with Derek’s and squeezed the older mans’ hand. There was silence for a while before Derek spoke again.

“I’ll tell them everything in detail if it means Kate gets what she deserves,” Derek said.

***

Stiles stayed the night with Derek. Derek didn’t admit it out loud but he was glad he didn’t have to be alone.

Around 3a.m. Stiles was woken up by Derek tossing and turning. Stiles groaned and kicked Derek lightly.

“Dude, go to sleep!” Stiles complained.

After a few more minutes Stiles woke up properly and realised Derek was actually asleep. Stiles rolled over and shook Derek by the shoulder.

“Derek.”

The werewolf still didn’t wake up. Derek was mouthing something in his sleep and his eyebrows were knitted tight together.

“Derek!” Stiles tried again. “I swear to God I will punch you in the face if I have to.”

Stiles tugged on Derek’s hair and shook him more violently. Finally Derek woke with a start; he lashed out, hitting Stiles in the head, before he realised where he was.

“Stiles. Fuck. I’m so sorry,” Derek immediately started apologising.

“It’s okay,” Stiles cradled the side of his head, but managed to smile at Derek. “I’m good.”

“I’m sorry, I was having a nightmare.” Derek reached out and took Stiles’ chin in his hand, tilting the younger man’s head so he could see the damage. Thankfully Stiles wasn’t bleeding, it had been more of a glancing blow than anything.

“Yeah, I figured,” Stiles said. “What were you dreaming about?”

“Kate?” Derek shrugged. The details of the dream were already fading for him, but he could still hear Kate’s voice in his head.

“They’ve got her locked up tight.” Stiles ran a hand through Derek’s sweat damp hair. “And there’s no way she’s going to win a trial, so she’s going to stay locked up. Hell she might even get sentenced to death row.”

“We can only hope,” Derek muttered. He didn’t feel any guilt about wishing the death penalty on Kate.

“Come on,” Stiles pulled Derek back down onto the mattress. “Let’s go back to sleep.”

Stiles curled around Derek so his chest was pressed flush against Derek’s bare back. Derek closed his eyes and tried to focus on Stiles’ breathing or heartbeat, anything but Kate’s voice that was still echoing in his mind.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic had passed 10k hits while i was sleeping, so here's the new chapter to say thank you for the hits, comments, kudos, and nice messages you've been sending to my tumblr. 
> 
> in this chapter and the one after it i may have taken some liberties with the structure of court cases (length of trial and how witnesses are called) simply to have everyone in the room at the same time and heighten the drama.

Stiles frowned. “You’re sure you want to go today?”

“Yes Stiles,” Derek answered, straightening his tie. “I’m going today, tomorrow and every day after until this trial is over.”

“But you don’t have to,” Stiles chewed his bottom lip. “I mean the lawyers said you only have to be in court when you’re on the witness stand.”

“I’ve made my decision,” Derek said firmly. “Why are you so worried? I’m not going to be in danger sitting in a courtroom.”

“You don’t know that, anything could happen.”

“Stiles.”

“It’s just,” Stiles hesitated. “I’m worried about what being in the same room with Kate day after day is going to do to you. I mean you had nightmares after telling me about what happened between the two of you. How are you going to get through weeks of her staring straight at you?”

Derek sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I have to do this.”

“I know you do,” Stiles said sitting down next to him. “Brave face of the company and all that.”

“It’s more than that,” Derek shook his head. “I’ve spent way too long being afraid of her, I need to do this for myself.”

Stiles put his hand on Derek’s knee. “I get it,” he said.

“Anyway,” Derek continued. “ _You’re_ the one who doesn’t have to be there at all.”

“As if I’m going to let you go alone,” Stiles scoffed.

“Boyd will be there, Erica said she’s going to be there for most of it too, and Cora’s got some business to finish up in Brazil, then she’ll be flying in to see the rest of the case,” Derek countered. “Plus, won’t you be missing classes?”

“None of my classes this semester have an attendance requirement, so I can afford to miss some as long as I stay on top of my course work,” Stiles told him.

“If I hear that you’re falling behind I’m going to get the judge to ban you from the courtroom,” Derek warned.

“Yeah, yeah,” Stiles laughed, standing up and offering a hand to Derek. “Come on big guy, you have a court case to win.”

***

For Stiles the court proceedings were something he was familiar with. He had sat in on his fair share of court hearings when his dad had to give evidence. For a while, near the end of his high school education, Stiles had even toyed with the idea of becoming a lawyer.

Derek, on the other hand, had little experience with criminal law proceedings. He wasn’t ignorant to the system, it was just over the years running the company the most he’d had to deal with was contract law or civil suits; even then he was on the outside looking in, always letting the companies lawyers deal with the details. This was the first time he was directly involved in a case.

The trial was set to run for three weeks, however it was speculated that it would run overtime. Dozens of witnesses were scheduled to give their testimonies, witnesses from the bombing and the shooting. Mental health experts for both the prosecution and the defence were on the list; even though the defence was going for a not guilty plea and weren’t relying on an insanity defence, they apparently still wanted to have all their bases covered. Derek was also on the list of witnesses, and Kate was set to testify in her own defence; a bold move that had the media in a frenzy.

The defence’s opening remarks left Derek’s stomach in knots, he was worried that they really could make the jury doubt Kate’s involvement in the attacks.

Derek sat between Boyd and Stiles, staring ahead at the witness stand, refusing to look to the left at where Kate was sitting. Stiles was a grounding presence for Derek. Theoretically it should have been Boyd, his beta with a pack bond, helping keep him centred and focused, but it wasn’t. Stiles was the one keeping Derek calm enough to sit through the hell that was the court case.

The experts and witnesses were working through Kate’s alleged crimes in chronological order. So it was only three days into the case that the ex-city coroner took the stand and started talking about the casualties from the bombing.

Stiles instinctively moved closer to Derek when Derek’s lawyer showed the courtroom photos of the injuries the victims had suffered. Derek looked away when a photo of his mother’s body flashed up onto the screen.  

Derek took the stand for the first time on the fifth day of the trial. He was scheduled to be called twice during the proceedings, once to give testimony on how Kate used him to learn about the security the Hale’s had before the bombing, then again to talk about what had happened when he was shot.

The questions from the prosecution were easy enough for Derek. Carol, the District Attorney, got him to recount how he had met Kate and what had happened during their brief affair, what kinds of things Derek told Kate about his family, and the messages Kate had send Derek after the bombing had occurred.

Derek focused on Stiles, Boyd, Erica, and Cora who had flown in for the remainder of the trial. He could feel Kate staring at him, and even in a packed court room he could still pick out her scent.

However Derek managed to keep his cool, even when, on cross examination, the defence attorney tried to plant the seed in doubt in the jury’s mind by insinuating Derek was a jilted ex, only taking the stand to get revenge on an old lover.

After several very long testimonies from expert witnesses, and a bomb scare that saw the courthouse evacuated and the case recessed for a day, Kate finally took in the stand to speak in her defence.

Kate was wearing a well-tailored navy blue skirt and blazer paired with a cream silk blouse, an outfit obviously chosen to make her seem more likeable. She swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, so help her God, with a sweet smile.

Being a witness for the defence the defence attorney got first shot at questioning Kate. The first half of Kate’s testimony was predictable; they established how Kate wasn’t involved with Chasse during the bombing or the shooting. They didn’t have to prove it, all they had to do was make it plausible enough, so that they jury wouldn’t be able to ignore the possibility that Kate didn’t have anything to do with the attacks. However, unexpectedly, the defence wasn’t satisfied with just that, because then they started to establish _why_ Kate would never have tried to harm the Hale’s.

“Kate, can you explain these letters sent to Mr. Hale that the prosecution claim are taunting and _as good as a confession_?” the attorney asked, mimicking Carol’s words from her opening statement.

Kate nodded and took the printed copies of the letters her lawyer gave her.

“I sent Derek letters to tell him I was sorry he had lost his family. I was scared to see him in person. With the media attention that surrounded him, I was scared that someone would find out about us and I would be charged with statutory rape,” Kate was free to talk about it now though, the statute of limitations had long since expired. “The letters weren’t meant to be taunting, they were meant to be comforting. I wanted Derek to know I was still thinking about him.”

“Did you ever wish to harm Mr. Hale?”

“No!” Kate shook her head. “Never. I loved him, I,” tears welled in Kate’s eyes. “I still love him,” Kate lept to her feet and the courtroom exploded into excited whispers. “Derek I still love you! I always have!”

The judge banged his gavel and called for order.

“I love you!” Kate called out through tears. “I’d never do anything to hurt you!”

A half hour recess was called and the jury was instructed to disregard Ms. Argent’s outburst.

Derek sat, staring straight ahead, in complete shock.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's one chapter and a short epilogue left after this chapter. we're almost at the end.

Erica was pacing, Derek was sitting with his head in his hands, Boyd was looking out the window with a scowl that hadn’t left his face since Kate had taken the stand, Cora was chewing on her thumb nail, and Stiles was bouncing on his toes trying, and failing, to stay still.

“That was awful,” Derek groaned, his voice muffled by his hands.

“No, we can come back from this,” Carol, the DA, assured him. “You go on the stand tomorrow and we counter everything she just said, show the jury that she’s manipulative and resentful.”

“She claimed to still love Derek and burst into tears!” Erica shouted, lowering her voice to a harsh whisper at the last minute. “How do we fix that?”

“Show that it was all an act,” Carol told her calmly.

“How do we do that?” Derek asked.

“We trap her during cross examination,” Stiles said suddenly, and everyone looked at him as though they were just realising he was there. “She has a short temper, we make her angry and she’ll snap.”

“Perfect,” Carol nodded. “We just need to find something that will make her angry enough.”

“Please tell me you have a plan,” it wasn’t clear whether Derek was talking to Stiles or Carol.

“I do,” Erica said as she finally stopped pacing and grinned, “we show her she’s not as important as she thinks she is.”

***

 Stiles could feel all the eyes on him as Derek steered him through the courtroom to the front row of seats.  

Derek was very careful with his movements, his hand never left the side of Stiles’ neck. The hand placement sent one very obvious message: ‘ _mine’._

Stiles focused his attention on the prosecution table just beyond the bar and willed himself not to look over at Kate, he had a feeling she would be giving him the same look of contempt she gave him when she saw him on the first day of the trial.

“Are you sure about this?” Derek asked in a low whisper as the courtroom slowly filled again.

Stiles nodded. “I’m sure.”

The plan was a risky one, there was no guarantee that Carol could provoke an angry outburst from Kate, but they had to try it.

The defence declined the opportunity to continue their questioning, apparently satisfied that Kate’s emotional declaration of love would have had the intended impact on the jury.

“Ms. Argent,” Carol began. “If you are so in love with Mr. Hale then why not try to rekindle the relationship you had?”

“Even back then Derek was certain I was responsible, he filed several reports with the police, and I became a wanted woman,” Kate’s voice wavered. “I didn’t think he’d believe me if I came back, but I did reach out several times. Derek never replied to me.”

“Maybe you didn’t try harder because Derek just got too old for you,” Carol was facing the jury, they were the ones she had to convince that Kate was a monster.

A muscle jumped in Kate’s jaw but she otherwise held her composure. “I never cared about Derek’s age, I only cared about who he was.”

Kate never stopped looking at Derek and Derek felt like he was going to be sick. Unlike all the other days of the trial so far, Derek was holding Stiles’ hand, and Stiles squeezed Derek’s hand as hard as he could.

“What about Derek’s family?” Carol asked. “Did you like them for who they were?”

“I never met any of Derek’s family,” Kate told the courtroom. “Like I said, I was scared what would happen if someone found out about Derek and me.”

“I suppose they wouldn’t have approved of a known hunter having an illicit affair with an underage boy,” Carol nodded.

“My past-” Kate started but Carol cut her off.

“A known hunter having an illicit affair with an underage boy, who knew the ins and outs of the Hale security, a hunter who had means and opportunity to orchestrate both attacks.”

“Does the prosecution have a question in there somewhere?” The judge asked when the defence objected.

“Yes,” Carol turned to face Kate again. “Ms. Argent, you claim to love Mr. Hale and that’s why you would never have harmed him or his family, however you have been very publicly against werewolf and human relationships, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, but-”

“Only yes or no answers will be necessary, thank you,” Carol told her. “Now we have documents, letters and emails, some dated as recently as a month ago, that show you condemning human and werewolf relationships. That is your email account, isn’t that correct?”

Kate looked at the print out Carol handed her and nodded. “Yes.”

“Did you write these?”

Kate hesitated. “Yes.”

“So you say you love Mr. Hale, a werewolf, but at the same time you say that _‘werewolves are disgusting creatures who must be eradicated. Any humans who consort and empathise with them are just as bad’_. Which is it Ms. Argent? Do you love Mr. Hale or do you hate him and wish to see his kind eradicated?”

“Derek is different,” Kate tried to salvage her case.

“Derek is different,” Carol nodded. “Maybe that’s why you planned to bomb an event you knew he wouldn’t be attending.”

“No,” Kate’s nostrils flared as she tried to keep a lid on her anger.

“So you love Mr. Hale, but are you aware he does not reciprocate those feelings?” The quick change of questioning was a tactic to keep Kate off balance.

“No.”

“No?” Carol stepped back. “I find that very had to believe Ms. Argent. In his testimony Mr. Hale explicitly stated that he only entered into a relationship because his last girlfriend had tragically died and he ‘ _needed a distraction’._ ”

“It might have started as a distraction but it evolved into love, for both of us,” Kate looked at Derek with a sappy expression on her face.

Stiles resisted the urge to scoff. Apparently part of her defence was to act delusional.

“Did you know,” Carol picked up another piece of paper from her desk. “That Mr. Hale has had several relationships since you? Did you know that he has moved on completely from you?”

“Yes,” Kate nodded. “And no. I mean I knew he’s had relationships, some were very highly publicised, but I don’t believe that he’s moved on from me.”

“Yes, his relationships with singer Braeden and socialite Jennifer Blake were quite public,” Carol agreed. “But did you know that Mr. Hale is currently in a relationship?”

“No,” Kate’s jaw clenched.

“Since last summer,” Carol informed her and the courtroom at large. “With Mr. Stilinski,” Carol gestured to Stiles and Derek and suddenly all eyes were on Stiles. “They were spotted out together just weeks before the shooting occurred, it caused quite a stir in the tabloid news. You were back in town around that time, weren’t you Ms. Argent?”

“Yes.”

“Did seeing them on the front pages of the tabloids and on websites anger you?”

“No.” Kate’s voice was hard and she gripped the edge of her chair to stop herself from reacting physically.

“Did seeing the man you love with someone else, another man, make you want to hurt him?”

“No.”

“Really? The shooting wasn’t revenge? It wasn’t a way to _eradicate werewolves_ and get back at a man who had hurt you?”

“No.”

“Or maybe it was a way to hurt Mr. Stilinski?” Carol continued.

“No.”

“Maybe if you couldn’t have Mr. Hale, then no one could?”

“No!” Kate exclaimed. “This was planned months before Derek started fucking a teenager!” Kate pointed an accusing finger at Stiles.

Kate sat back in shock over what she had just said, a hand over her mouth. A whisper went through the courtroom.

“Mr. Stilinski is twenty-two years old,” Carol said with a sweet smile. “No further questions your honour.”

***

The trial continued as planned, however there was no way for the defence to recover from Kate’s second outburst in court. Kate’s attorney tried, and failed, to have Kate’s statement struck from the record. The judge decided that the line of questioning had been relevant, and was admissible, since the defence had brought up the fact that Kate was still in love with Derek.

Jury deliberation lasted for a total of five hours. Honestly it was a record considering the amount of information they had to take into consideration. 

The verdict came back as a resounding and unanimous “Guilty on all charges!”

***

Stiles stood by Derek’s side on the courthouse steps as the alpha addressed the gaggle of reporters waiting for a statement.

“I’m glad we finally have justice for my family, and all those who lost their lives in the attacks Chasse committed on the orders of Kate Argent,” Derek said. “This also sets a great precedent for hate crimes against werewolves; it lets those who wish to harm us know, that even if they do not pull the trigger themselves, they will not be spared prosecution.”

 Derek paused and let the reporters shout more questions at him.

“How do you feel knowing the role you played in the bombing?” and older man asked.

Stiles edged closer to Derek, but Derek answered the question gracefully.

“I spent a long time hating myself because of how Kate used me,” Derek said truthfully. “But I have come to terms with what happened and understand now that I was another victim of a vicious, hateful woman.”

The reporters all started talking over each other again but then Carol cut in.

“Mr. Hale will be releasing a full statement after sentencing,” she told them. “All other questions can be directed to my office.”

The tight group of reporters continued to ask questions but parted so Derek and his group could start walking down the stairs.

A sudden shot rang out and Stiles crumpled to the ground.

It wasn’t like in the movies; there was no slow-mo, there was no moment where Stiles put his hand to his stomach and his fingers came away wet with blood. One moment Stiles was standing and the next he was lying on the cold stone steps, a pool of blood quickly forming below him.

Derek looked around in horror. Three more shots were fired and people were running away, screaming. A flare of pain went through Derek’s arm and he registered that he had been shot as well. Police officers with guns drawn were running towards the commotion. Two people were on the phone to 911. Cora was looking around in shock, her teeth bared. Boyd had an arm around Erica, a protective hand over her swollen stomach, he was also assessing the situation, trying to figure out who had fired the shots.

Derek was on his knees beside Stiles, hands pressed painfully hard against Stiles’ abdomen, trying to staunch the bleeding.

Blood stained Stiles’ lips and he struggled to talk but Derek just hushed him.

“It’s okay Stiles,” Derek’s voice cracked. “You’re going to be okay.”

Derek was pretty sure he heard Stiles say his name before the younger man passed out, although it could have been wishful thinking.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry, just stay with me for the last couple of chapters


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all ready to find out what happened?

Derek didn’t leave the hospital the entire time Stiles was in surgery.

After his own wounds were treated he headed straight up to the OR waiting room. He was joined by Stiles’ father, Scott, Melissa McCall, Isaac, Lydia, then later Erica, Boyd, and Cora.

“I’m sorry,” were the first words out of Derek’s mouth when he saw the sheriff.

“You’re not the one who shot him,” the older man said gruffly. “The kids’ had a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time since he could walk.”

“He’s going to be okay,” Melissa said, putting her hand on the sheriff’s shoulder.

The sheriff nodded and let Melissa lead him over to the chairs to sit down.

The group were silent until the surgeon came through the doors. All of them rose to their feet at once, breaths held.

“Mr. Stilinski?” The doctor asked, shaking hands with the sheriff.

“Yes.”

“It was a little touch and go for a while there, the bullet nicked his liver, but your son’s going to be just fine. He’s sleeping now but you can go in and see him.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“One or two at a time,” the doctor added when they all moved at once.

Erica and Boyd made their departure quickly after that. Both of them had been worried for Stiles, but their main concern had been making sure Derek would be okay. Cora left at Derek’s request, he told her to go home and get some sleep, and that he would call her when he had seen Stiles.

Lydia left after seeing Stiles with her own eyes, promising that she’d be back to see him once he was awake.

Scott and Isaac were sent home by a very firm Melissa McCall after Stiles woke up, her tone more mother than alpha.

Derek waited until Melissa took the sheriff home before he went in to see Stiles.

Stiles’ eyes were closed and his face was pale, dark circles like bruises under his eyes. He looked so small hooked up to and surrounded by all the medical equipment. He looked younger than Derek had ever seen him and Derek’s throat tightened.

He couldn’t shake the guilt, the knowledge that he’d been the reason Stiles had almost lost his life.

Derek pulled the chair right up to the edge of the bed and sat down. He took Stiles’ hand in his, it was warm and Stiles’ pulse was steady.

“Derek,” Stiles said softly.

“Hey,” Derek looked up at Stiles’ face, “How are you feeling?”

“Well, after this I shall think nothing of falling down stairs.”

Derek let out a laugh that quickly turned into a choked off sob. He dropped his head to the bed and buried his face against Stiles’ arm. Derek had never been happier to hear Stiles make a stupid joke.

Stiles carded the fingers of his free hand through Derek’s hair.

“I’m okay,” Stiles assured the werewolf. “The doctors say I’ll make a full recovery.”

“You have no idea how worried I was.” Derek’s voice was muffled against Stiles’ arm.

“If you remember correctly this situation was reversed not too long ago,” Stiles pointed out. “So I think I know exactly how worried you were.”

“You’re right,” Derek nodded. “Sorry.”

“New rule,” Stiles decided. “Neither of us are allowed to get shot ever again, okay?”

“Okay,” Derek agreed. “I think I can handle that.”

***

A week after he was shot Stiles was lying on the couch, under strict orders to not move too much. When the door to the apartment opened Stiles didn’t even bother to look up from his book.

“What did you forget this time, Scotty?” Stiles asked.

“Hey,” came Derek’s voice and Stiles’ head snapped up.

“Hey,” Stiles said, marking his page then closing the book. “You have a key?”

Derek held up the key. “Yeah. Scott gave it to me. He wanted me to come by and check on you, make sure you weren’t ignoring your doctors’ orders.”

Stiles scoffed. “Because I don’t have enough people checking in on me already.” Stiles sighed and tossed his book onto the coffee table. “Thanks for coming over though, I’ve been going out of my mind.”

“I was thinking,” Derek said. He walked over and sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of Stiles.

“About what?” Stiles asked.

“Us.”

“Us,” Stiles repeated. He pushed himself up so he was sitting rather than lying down. He winced when the movement caused his stitches to pull.

Derek had his fingers laced together and didn’t look at Stiles. “I was thinking about how we announced our relationship to the whole world, but we’ve never actually – we haven’t.” The words stuck in Derek’s throat. He knew what he wanted to say. The question should be so easy to ask. But even after everything that he and Stiles had gone through in such a short amount of time, the fear of rejection tied his stomach up in knots.

Stiles reached out and put his hand over Derek’s that were still clasped together. He had a good idea about where Derek was trying to go with this. “I’m the one who asked Scott to give you the key,” he admitted. “I’ve been trying to think of a way to give it to you for months.”

Derek took his hands away from Stiles and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a key and handed it to Stiles. For a moment Stiles thought it was the key Scott had given Derek, but then he realised it had the name of Derek’s apartment building engraved on it.

“I was actually going to give it to you for Christmas,” Derek said. “But I chickened out.”

“Hey, Derek?” Stiles took Derek’s hand in his again.

“Yeah?”

“You wanna be my boyfriend?” Stiles asked. “Since the whole world thinks you are anyway?”

A wide smile broke out across Derek’s face and he nodded. “Definitely.”

“Good, because I’m pretty sure I love you,” Stiles said. The last of the words were swallowed up by Derek’s mouth.

Stiles looped his arm around Derek’s neck, then gasped in pain.

“Are you okay?” Derek asked.

“My stitches.” Stiles put his hand gingerly against his skin. The stitches hadn’t torn thankfully.

Derek had his hand on the side of Stiles’ neck, and started leeching the pain from Stiles without thinking about it.

Stiles sighed happily and closed his eyes. “I think it’s worth keeping you around just for that.”

Derek just chuckled then kissed Stiles again, more gently this time. Stiles grabbed the lapels of Derek’s jacked and pulled him as close as possible.

“I’m pretty sure I love you, too,” Derek said, slightly breathless, when they broke the kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you guys really think after all this I wasn't going to give it a happy ending?
> 
> I have a short epilogue to upload after this, then it's totally finished. I wasn't going to upload this chapter until I had the epilogue finished and beta read, but I didn't want to leave you guys in limbo any more.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me so long to put this last part up, I've got exams this week and I've been trying to focus on studying.

**EPILOGUE**

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:**

**Engagement of Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski**

_It is the pleasure of both Mr Hale and Mr Stilinski to announce they are engaged to be married. After two years of being a couple, and a year of living together, Derek and Stiles have decided to cement their commitment further._

_The good news comes off the back of Stiles’ graduation from university, and the $100,000 that the couple have raised for Derek’s charity ‘Laura’s Wish’._

_The couple are excited to start the newest chapter of their life together. No wedding date has been set yet, however discussions about times and locations are underway._

_Friends and family are ecstatic about the news and wish Derek and Stiles lots of love and happiness for their future together._

_For further questions contact:_

_Erica Reyes_

_Head of Public Relations_

_Hale and Co_

It took a week for Erica to issue the press release. Most of that time was spent arguing back and forth with Stiles about whether or not to use his legal name in the release. Stiles had been adamant that they not; Erica had been very vocal that it was the formal way to do it. In the end Derek had put his foot down and sided with Stiles (a decision that surprised no one at all).

After the press release was finally published the news of Derek and Stiles’ engagement made international headlines.

Their engagement party was a small, intimate dinner at The Golden Wolf. The engagement announcement was a necessity, however both Stiles and Derek wanted their engagement and wedding to be a private event; close family and friends only.

It was Derek’s idea to ask Scott to be in charge of the music for the engagement party; a decision he only briefly regretted when Scott played the opening to Gold Digger by Kanye West before the speeches.

Once the formalities of the night were over, Derek and Stiles found themselves sitting at a table with a small group; Scott, Allison, Lydia, Isaac, Cora, Boyd, and Erica.

“Have you put any more thought into the wedding date?” Lydia asked.

“We’re thinking maybe this summer?” Stiles shrugged. “We don’t want to have a really long engagement.”

“Good,” Scott said. “Because I’m already working on my best man speech, and people need to hear is as soon as possible.”

“Come on, give us a little taste,” Stiles said, grinning at his best friend.

“Oh, are you going to share some embarrassing stories?” Cora asked.

“I do have one story,” Scott said. “It’s not particularly embarrassing, but it’s how I figured out that Stiles was way more into Derek than he was letting on.”

Stiles laughed. “Yeah, okay. How did you know?”

“Yeah, how did you know?” Derek echoed.

Scott chuckled and took a sip from his drink. “It was about two months after you guys met,” he said.

“Bullshit,” Stiles interrupted. “I wasn’t in love with Derek then, not yet.”

“I didn’t say love,” Scott said. “This is how I knew you were getting serious about him. After two months you switched out your normal washing powder to an unscented one. All because Derek made an offhanded comment about how strong your clean clothes smelt. _That’s_ when I knew you were getting in over your head.”

Derek turned to Stiles with a raised eyebrow. “I remember that. I’m pretty sure you said that you switched because it was cheaper.”

“Okay,” Stiles threw up a hand in defence. “I technically wasn’t lying. It was cheaper to switch. But yeah, I may have had some ulterior motives.” It was such a small thing Stiles hadn’t even noticed he’d done it at the time. He had just grabbed the unscented powder, and it wasn’t until Derek had asked that he actually thought about the reason why. He wasn’t all the surprised that Scott had noticed.

“And obviously my speech is going to include that time Derek was threatening to camp outside our apartment until he could talk to Stiles,” Scott continued.

The group laughed at that. Derek wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest.

“That was after those photos of them dancing together surfaced, wasn’t it?” Erica asked. “You should also mention the part where Derek came to me begging for help, he wanted to know how to fix it.”

“I wasn’t begging!” Derek said. Erica levelled a pointed look at him and he conceded. “Okay, there may have been a little begging.”

“Whenever I talked to him he brought up Stiles without me having to ask,” Cora added. “I think we all knew they were in love before they did.”

“I’ve got a ridiculous story that has you all beat,” Boyd said. He had been listening to the conversation, waiting to speak up with this.

“What is it?” Scott asked.

“You _have_ to tell us,” Cora added.

Boyd smirked at Derek. “Derek got me to give Stiles security clearance to his office within a week and a half of knowing him.”

“What?” Stiles looked from Derek to Boyd, then back to Derek again.

“Didn’t you ever think it was weird you could navigate one of the most secure office buildings in the city with zero problems?” Boyd asked. Beside him Erica was laughing into her drink.

“I trusted you,” Derek shrugged in reply to Stiles’ raised eyebrow.

“You guys were gone since day one,” Cora said, standing up. “It’s kinda gross. I need another drink.”

Once Cora had left Allison turned to Stiles and Derek. “So what are your plans after the wedding?” She asked. “Are you going to stay in Derek’s apartment or get a house? What about babies?” Allison waggled her eyebrows and both she and Erica giggled.

Stiles knew Allison was teasing because after she and Scott had gotten engaged every second person asked when they were going to have kids. Stiles may have bugged them about it himself.

Derek and Stiles looked at each other, they both shrugged in unison.

“We’ve been looking at houses,” Stiles said. “But for now we’re just going to stay in the apartment.”

“And we’ve been talking about kids,” Derek added.

Scott’s mouth dropped open. “You have?” he asked. “You never mentioned anything about kids to me!” Scott pointed an accusing finger at his best friend.

“It’s not like we’re filing paperwork to adopt a kid right now,” Stiles shrugged again. “But it’s a conversation we’ve had. We both want kids, and we have a lot to do with charities that support werewolf kids with no family. It seems like the right next step.”

Derek reached out and took Stiles’ hand in his. Stiles leaned into Derek’s side.

Erica reached across and pinched Stiles on the cheek. “Cora’s right,” she said with a small laugh. “You two are gross.” Erica, Allison, and Lydia all laughed as Stiles rubbed his cheek.

Stiles stuck out his tongue at Erica and Derek snorted at the gesture.

Cora returned to the table and the conversation drifted away from Stiles and Derek; who were more than happy to have the spot light off them for a while.

Stiles twisted in his seat so he could whisper in Derek’s ear. “You want to get out of here?” he asked.

“It’s our party,” Derek said. “We can’t just leave.”

“It’s _our_ party,” Stiles repeated in a low whisper. “We can do _whatever_ we want.”

Derek could feel Stiles smirking against his ear and he nodded once in response.

None of their friends were surprised in the slightest when the two men made a quick departure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaand that's a wrap! I can't believe it's finally all finished and published. 
> 
> Derek and Stiles talking about adopting at the end because Rennie ~~demanded~~ asked politely for it. And i can't say no to Rennie, this fic never would have existed without her.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love it if you came to talk to me on [tumblr](http://heavenlyhale.tumblr.com/)


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